My Child’s Best Friend (?)

Our Child’s best friend    are really the best? Read more to find out who they are and answer, the question, Is your child in safe hands?

Yes our childrens’ best friend, without whom our young generation cannot live, they have become a part and parcel and inseparable part of our child’s lives.

We as children never got to get so friendly with them. But today’s kids want them once they are in this world and more than the kids it’s we who want them to be friendly with. Because without which we have an insecurity of our child being left alone, incompetent to face the world or not acceptable in the so called “social circle”. They have become our status symbol. We take pride in our selves to introduce ourselves to them and then it’s we who have to reap its “so called” benefits. J

Did we guess it correct????...

There you get it correct……commonly known to as Gadgets and Gizmos and fast food … I prefer calling them as “Technical Food”.

The first and the foremost we introduce to our beloved child, for whom we want the best is:

1.       Fast food:

If your child has not tasted French fries, burgers, Pizzas, Colas; the astonishment from the other parents is makes you feel low, humiliated, left out   , blaming yourself for your child missing on to something and left behind in the race of status.

But what we are forgetting is the hazards we expose our child to, with little nutritional value and an excess of unhealthy components, fast food consumed today may lead to problems such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease later in life. Choosing a nutritionally balanced meal may be more difficult, but it can provide you with the nutrients you need to live a long and healthy life while avoiding the hazards inherent in fast foods.
For example, a 32-oz. cola adds about 425 calories to your meal. Even a basic medium-sized meal at many fast food restaurants provides more than the recommended daily amount of saturated fat and a large portion of the calories you need for a single day. Consuming excess fat and calories contributes to obesity and may raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Gadgets -Gadgets Everywhere:

2.Electronic Pollution: Today’s child is born with a mobile in hand. A leading Mobile operator advertisement shows a doting grandparent hearing the grandchild’s first cry, not knowing the effects of Electronic Pollution we are exposing our new born’ s and children. Such kind of advertisements broadcasted on national Television can be seriously misleading. 

Children using mobile phones absorb as much as double the amount of radiation through their heads as adults. More radiation is able to go past the ear and into the head since a child's ear is thinner and the telephone is closer to the head and today's young people may suffer an "epidemic" of the disease in later life.

Use of microwave to cook/heat   food, but seldom we   realize that microwave cooking has replaced our traditional ways of cooking which not only changes the taste and texture but also has been proven to be carcinogenic.

 3.Video Games: Video Games are fun but Pose Social, Health Risks. They are killing the emotional feelings of the child; especially the games of terrorism and wars have made human relationships scary. Children are not exposed to emotions like pain, hurt, and sympathy and have distanced themselves from being patience and tend to be restless. On the other hand dancing with friends or playing sports would get kids moving and give them a chance to spend time with peers.

4.Chat rooms/Dating Online/Internet Safety: Use of Lingo language has killed the essence of languages and the essence of relationships where the purity of relating yourself to someone is not appreciated. Instant Chat has made the communication very fast, but along with it comes regret at leisure!!

5.Computers and Calculators: Use of Computers and Calculators has decreased the thinking capability of our children. They are on a constant run to find the answers fast without   having faith and confidence in their own brain and not considering the fact that it was the human brain who invented   the computers!.

                The hazards can be categorized as below:

• Physical hazards include wrist and neck injury, eyestrain, obesity (to the extent that computer use replaces physical activity in a child's lifestyle), and the possibility of toxic emissions and radiation.
• Emotional and social hazards include social isolation, weakened bonds with teachers, lack of self-discipline and self-motivation, emotional detachment from community, and commercial exploitation
• Intellectual hazards include lack of creativity, stunted imagination, poor language and literacy skills, attention deficit, too little patience, plagiarism, and distraction from meaning.
• Moral hazards include exposure to online violence, pornography, bigotry, an emphasis on information devoid of ethical content, lack of purpose, and irresponsibility in applying knowledge.

Not all the cons mentioned above state the fact that there are no Pros of our best friend. However how much we use them, when we use them, for what we use is what really matters, and can turn our foe to a folly.

Advice for parents:

Understand where a child is developmentally: For example, children under age eight have a hard time distinguishing fantasy from reality, so vivid, violent images may be upsetting.

Home Environment: A child who is brought up in a loving and caring environment, where he sees the bonding of real relationships between the family members, where everyone has its own identity   where the child is exposed to real emotions, is less likely to be a difficult child and would be a more confident and social. Both the parents should have a consensus as to how they would want to raise a child. Do not set different rules for different people and different times. Setting different rules by parents can leave the child confused, not knowing what to follow, which forces the child to finds its   own rules

Offer alternatives: It becomes our duty to see if the child if denied something is also offered something as an alternative. Just saying no to a child makes the child yearn for the materialistic thing more and more. Make it a point to involve you in their world. Be of their age to relate with them better. Listen to them.  Participate in their Activities. Child wants someone to listen to them carefully, get involved in their world of fantasies and excitement, and be with them. Make them feel special by allocating time just for them (which means even if your boss calls you, politely refuse to talk on phone).

Allow them to express their feelings, doubt, curiosity, questions. This would make them more prepared to face the real world. They would not feel the need to find pleasure in external world matter. They would be more competent to judge the bad form the good and be more responsible. Even if parents follow 50 % of what is required they would see their child grow in a better, responsible and confident personality.