Skip to main content

Kids and digital devices

Being a FTM, I find myself worrying about every single thing that H does. One thing that I struggle with everyday is his exposure to digital devices.

It is a growing trend for parents to expose their kids to digital devices. Personally, I think it's too young to start kids on digital devices as they get addicted to them. I see those kids who have their faces stuck to the Ipads or phones even during meal times and i worry for their eyesight. 

To be honest, I totally understand the urge to let H watch videos, especially when I'm tired after work and he is creating a havoc in the house. I admit that sometimes I give in and just let him watch a little on TV (youtube videos) in my parent's house. 


But, on better days, I try to read with him or to him, depending on how you look at it.

The key difference is that digital devices do not require parental involvement but reading and playing with H requires a lot of effort. Just getting him to be still and listen is a huge chore in itself and his attention span is very short; less than a minute usually. 

Reflecting, I think that parents play a very important role in ensuring that kids do not get unnecessary additional exposure to digital devices. We are guilty of facing the screens all day long, whether is it for work or leisure. Do we want our kids to have such a life? I think not.

What we can work on is to spend quality time with our kids as much as we can but at the same time, if we as parents need to take a break, there is no need to stress. I heard many stories where many parents have unrealistic expectations at the start that kids should have 0% exposure to digital devices and then burnout happened and they decided that it is not doable. I feel it is okay to let them have a limited amount of screen time but it should be capped. 

What are your thoughts about this?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: NUR1113 (Active Ageing in Singapore)

Apparently this is a year one nursing module. This is another module which is highly bidded for, and a relatively easy module. Lectures can be skipped, as long as you read the lecture slides on your own. All the information had been pasted into the slides, rendering the lecture useless. The lecturer usually just reads from the slides. Tutorials are easy. Nothing much to prepare, and basically, they are logic questions. I remember doing a powerpoint presentation for this module. We also did random experiments in tutorials. However, one thing not good about being the minority in a close-knitted faculty means that you can't really interact with the rest of the module mates. They all have a similar timetable, meaning that you have to suit their timing. Something to consider if you are taking language modules huh.

Review: Learning spanish with Wlingua Spanish

It has already been a dream of mine to learn Spanish but due to the astronomical cost involved in picking up Spanish at a language school ( I was looking at las lilas school ), I gave up. So, while I was randomly surfing the net, I came across this app, Wlingua Spanish , which has a 7 days free premium trial and it seems to have quite good reviews on google play. As such, I downloaded the app and started using it. What can I say, it's awesome! I don't know how the basic plan looks like since I am still on my premium trial, but the layout of the course is really pretty good. According to the app, it covers up to B1 of the Spanish course, which equates to around 3 years of study in a language school. That's more than good enough for beginners like us. Below is a screenshot of my progress in 4 days, and I have been spending around 4-5 hours each day on this app. It seems like I got to take a long time even before I can complete the A1 course. T.T This app has a rewar...

Review: SCCIOB - Diploma in Translation and Interpretation

Wanted to do this earlier but I have been sooo busy. This diploma consists of 6 modules. DTS01 语言学导论 Introduction to Linguistics DTS02 英汉对比语言学 Comparative English and Chinese Linguistics DTS03 英汉双向翻译的理论与实践 English-Chinese and Chinese-English Translation Theory and Practice DTS04 基本文体翻译技能训练 Translation Skills for Different Genres DTS05 英汉双向口译的理论与实践 English-Chinese and Chinese-English Interpretation Theory and Practice DTS06 翻译综合能力培训 Integrated Translation Skills DTS 1: This module is the foundation for the rest of the modules, so it's pretty important. I like the male teacher who taught this module, because he's very structured in his way of teaching and it's easier to absorb the materials given. The homework given is not a lot when compared to NUS but I guess it's...

Review: PA Holiday Flat Chalet

Just ended a retreat at PA holiday flat chalet. We got it for super cheap (56 bucks) for 4 days 3 nights. Excluding electricity. The first thing I thought of was that PA is always understaffed, because we had to wait for 1/2 hour to check in as the staff was not in office. Finally, when we managed to check in, we realised that there was a lot of stuff not provided for. Booking the BBQ pit costs $3.20. And there were no toilet rolls in the toilet. And we have to clean up the rooms. Like throw all the rubbish away and such. This was the first time I had been to such a chalet so I was a little shocked. We took #03-03 and everything was fine till the last day when there was a thunderstorm. The wall started leaking and formed puddles on the floor. One tip to note is that taking the ground floor is better when there are lots of movements around. Climbing the stairs multiple times a day is no joke. The bedroom of #03-03 The BBQ pit, with the playground and the flats in th...

Bad experience at Fitness First Singapore for membership transfer

Recently, as I have been busy, I wanted to transfer my membership to someone else. Naturally, I called up Fitness First to check if I can transfer the membership and they told me that as long as they are willing to pay the transfer fee of 98 bucks and the remaining months of the membership, I am able to do the transfer. It sounds alright, correct? Then, when I attempted to transfer the membership, problems started to arise. Initially, the staff at Market Street Fitness First told me that yes, I can do the transfer(and that is after calling them multiple times as none of the staff can actually confirm it. They just told me to wait for their return calls which never ever happens.) Then after that, when I called for a last time to confirm when I wanted to make my way down, they suddenly told me that because I am on a term membership, they are unable to let me transfer my membership. (And I had already made arrangements with the person that will be taking over my membership) That w...