<p>Our 21st century world is abundant with idiotboxes. From smart phones to tablets, every parent and child alike is hooked onto these sad replacements for babysitting, muses Deepa Ballal.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A study has found that Swedish children may be suffering emotional harm because of their “mobile-phone-dependent” parents. One in five parents in Stockholm confessed to having lost sight of their child in a “dangerous place” while focusing on a mobile device. Not to forget India is one big nation with maximum number of mobile users. Are we too part of that slowly growing breed of parents who put down their kids to pick up a tablet or a smart phone? Has our preoccupation with social media, in a way, truncated the very interaction we have had with our kids? Maybe... <br /><br />There are huge signs of "switch off your mobile phones" strategically placed at ATMs, cashier section of the banks, and highways. Now some kindergartens too have banned teachers and assistants from using mobiles when the class is in progress. Cases of thefts, kids missing, accidents have all made the mobile phone "The Culprit," thanks to which all of our other sensory functions switch off! In worst cases mothers have been sent to gallows for having forgotten about the baby in the bath tub or having spanked the baby so hard as they were so engrossed on the net playing games and nothing else really mattered.<br /><br />Some experts argue that parents too need that "me" time and gadgets often do give them that sense of liberation. Paediatrician and author Lars Gustafsson, who was extensively quoted in Swedish media opines that children have experienced parents who are absent in spirit at all times and in all families. Adults have the right to occasionally get a brief moment for themselves. You just have to find the proper balance, and the question is whether mobiles have shifted the balance in the wrong direction. Yes, maybe. <br /><br />Some have found a novel method to combat this problem. They have made the kids tech savvy! Legos and puzzles have been replaced by iPads, and KindleFire for birthday gifts. This again raises the never ending debate of using gadgets for baby sitting. The several idiotboxes like tablets and smartphones have replaced the quintessential baby sitter. These idiotboxes faithfully perform this duty, and mothers too get a breather for they feel they are in control as the remote is still in their hands! <br /><br />It’s a creepy phenomenon. An insane silence prevails in every household. You can see glowed up faces, one in every corner of the house, living in their own tiny worlds. These days every parent tries to win a loosing battle when their kid has taken the complete possession of the tablet by giving it a passcode and furtively tries to smuggle it to the washroom. Unlike the desktop which demanded the person to be stationed at one place and helped the parent monitor the child's surfing habits better, the tablets and smart phones have spelled trouble. But whether the parents simply want to keep a tab on the child or actually obsess over the gadget themselves is something we need to think about...<br /><br />Parents seem to find solace in these gadgets, just as much as their kids. It is perhaps time to read deeply into this issue, as all that either of them really need is each other. If parents can find a better way to look into the positive aspects of parenting, it would probably help them keep off the idiotboxes. <br /><br />It is all in moderation. Parents might need their “me” time, but they need to find a better alternative than to hook themselves onto gadgets. Think about what example you are setting to the child. Your few moments of freedom from your child can result in losing each other to idiotboxes!<br /><br />Battling the idiotboxes:<br /><br />*Assign a set time to operate gadgets, both for your child as well as yourself. <br /><br />* Be sure not to use them while spending time with your child unless it is absolutely inevitable. <br /><br />* See to it that the gadgets are put to productive use most of the time, rather than just for entertainment.<br /><br />We have ourselves ignited an unnecessary flame with our obsessed use of gadgets in our children’s wake. We must douse it before it turns into an inferno!</p>
<p>Our 21st century world is abundant with idiotboxes. From smart phones to tablets, every parent and child alike is hooked onto these sad replacements for babysitting, muses Deepa Ballal.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A study has found that Swedish children may be suffering emotional harm because of their “mobile-phone-dependent” parents. One in five parents in Stockholm confessed to having lost sight of their child in a “dangerous place” while focusing on a mobile device. Not to forget India is one big nation with maximum number of mobile users. Are we too part of that slowly growing breed of parents who put down their kids to pick up a tablet or a smart phone? Has our preoccupation with social media, in a way, truncated the very interaction we have had with our kids? Maybe... <br /><br />There are huge signs of "switch off your mobile phones" strategically placed at ATMs, cashier section of the banks, and highways. Now some kindergartens too have banned teachers and assistants from using mobiles when the class is in progress. Cases of thefts, kids missing, accidents have all made the mobile phone "The Culprit," thanks to which all of our other sensory functions switch off! In worst cases mothers have been sent to gallows for having forgotten about the baby in the bath tub or having spanked the baby so hard as they were so engrossed on the net playing games and nothing else really mattered.<br /><br />Some experts argue that parents too need that "me" time and gadgets often do give them that sense of liberation. Paediatrician and author Lars Gustafsson, who was extensively quoted in Swedish media opines that children have experienced parents who are absent in spirit at all times and in all families. Adults have the right to occasionally get a brief moment for themselves. You just have to find the proper balance, and the question is whether mobiles have shifted the balance in the wrong direction. Yes, maybe. <br /><br />Some have found a novel method to combat this problem. They have made the kids tech savvy! Legos and puzzles have been replaced by iPads, and KindleFire for birthday gifts. This again raises the never ending debate of using gadgets for baby sitting. The several idiotboxes like tablets and smartphones have replaced the quintessential baby sitter. These idiotboxes faithfully perform this duty, and mothers too get a breather for they feel they are in control as the remote is still in their hands! <br /><br />It’s a creepy phenomenon. An insane silence prevails in every household. You can see glowed up faces, one in every corner of the house, living in their own tiny worlds. These days every parent tries to win a loosing battle when their kid has taken the complete possession of the tablet by giving it a passcode and furtively tries to smuggle it to the washroom. Unlike the desktop which demanded the person to be stationed at one place and helped the parent monitor the child's surfing habits better, the tablets and smart phones have spelled trouble. But whether the parents simply want to keep a tab on the child or actually obsess over the gadget themselves is something we need to think about...<br /><br />Parents seem to find solace in these gadgets, just as much as their kids. It is perhaps time to read deeply into this issue, as all that either of them really need is each other. If parents can find a better way to look into the positive aspects of parenting, it would probably help them keep off the idiotboxes. <br /><br />It is all in moderation. Parents might need their “me” time, but they need to find a better alternative than to hook themselves onto gadgets. Think about what example you are setting to the child. Your few moments of freedom from your child can result in losing each other to idiotboxes!<br /><br />Battling the idiotboxes:<br /><br />*Assign a set time to operate gadgets, both for your child as well as yourself. <br /><br />* Be sure not to use them while spending time with your child unless it is absolutely inevitable. <br /><br />* See to it that the gadgets are put to productive use most of the time, rather than just for entertainment.<br /><br />We have ourselves ignited an unnecessary flame with our obsessed use of gadgets in our children’s wake. We must douse it before it turns into an inferno!</p>
