The Digital Age: Navigating Smartphone & Social Media For Kids

We are in the digital age where almost everything can be done online with countless opportunities to explore online, it's our responsibility as digital device users to take advantage of this innovation for our own good or it may turn to be a bad influence to us. Someone said, nobody really becomes an adult, we just keep learning to grow.

I say this to emphasise on just how much more children have to learn especially in our world today that a lot of the traditional way of child discipline is going extinct. Although, there are still intentional parents and guardians who make sure their children are being raised right, but a lot of children have gone astray because of phone use.

I remember the excitement when I finally got my own phone at the age of 9, not a smart phone but one to keep contact with dad whenever he's out to work. I got that phone mainly for security reasons but I know how far I went with that phone, especially playing games. And I got my first smart phone when I became 16 years old.

Not that I wasn't old enough to own a smart phone before I got one but it gave me enough time to know how to utilize mine well enough and more responsibly when I finally got one. I saw how a lot of children did so many bad and unspeakable things because of their access to phones, especially the ones using their parents'.

Today, I see it happening like it's very normal, little children owning a Tiktok or Instagram account, sharing skits of themselves doing improper things, wearing improper clothes and I don't even wonder much if their parents are not aware. If they are not aware, they've long failed in their discipline responsibilities towards that child.

One thing about children, they can be very fast to learn things whether good or bad, as they grow. It's the responsibility for parents to be very much involved in the lives of their children to know when it's okay for them to use phones or still need to be supervised. It differs how child discipline by families but we all want the best.

There is no age suitable for a child to own a phone or be allowed to be on social media but this doesn't mean, little kids below 12 should be seen hustling for likes and shares online, it says a lot about them not utilizing their childhood well enough. Without phones as distractions, children will bond better with their siblings and parents.

They are still children and need proper guidance if they don't understand what it means to own a phone but just want one because they are fascinated by it and what it does. I believe we would have a lot of children doing great things with their mobile phones if they are well oriented on it's good usage before they get to own one.

Neglecting the fact that children need guidance and letting them own a smart phone at an age that may pose threat to their growing up rightly, is a problem that can be avoided. I know parents who have timetable for everything regarding their children especially the elder ones with phones to make sure they are in check which is a good one.

Phones are addictive especially if the user is on any social media they like and are so focused on growing their follows or likes on their posts, I remember how obsessed I almost became to get likes on my Facebook posts back then. It's funny how I think of those times and I wish I was guided properly to see no sense in doing all that.

Phones are good, having a social media is great, there are countless benefits to having one but for kids, there should be proper guidance and limits depending on their maturity and how they interact in the home. The world is changing and we'd be glad to have children who are smart and adapting well to these changes but with guides.