Computer addiction in children isone of the most exciting issues of our time, which deserves maximum attention. As a rule, parents do not pay attention to what computer games their children play, which can negatively affect their consciousness, because each individual game can affect the child both positively and extremely negatively. In order to prevent irreversible consequences resulting from such addiction, it is necessary to delve deeper into this problem.
The main reasons for the dependence
It's worth starting with the fact that at any ageA person is extremely sensitive to information that has found its place of storage in computer networks and technologies. It is the development of computers that has made it possible to store, collect and analyze an incredible amount of information flows, which simply cannot fail to attract the attention of any person. Those children who have succumbed to computer addiction suffer from such a syndrome as a violation of natural analysis and processing of information, trusting all these thought processes to computer technologies. Such a child is not able to evaluate or analyze even the simplest information, which can be quite understandable even to small children. The development of computer technologies and various software has made it possible to create the appearance of an alternative reality, which is commonly called virtual. It is into such a reality that a person who spends most of his time near a computer is transferred. Such an attachment to a machine can be easily explained by the fact that the brain of each person needs to solve various logical problems that will bring a visible result of such an action. Working at a computer entirely consists of solving such problems, which attracts the attention of almost every person.
Fighting Internet addiction
Special attention should be paid to the globalthe world wide web called the Internet, with the help of which people have a widespread opportunity for interactive communication. As a rule, this type of communication is necessary for those people who are simply afraid of real communication. Self-doubt and isolation do not allow such people to adequately communicate with a real interlocutor, which does not mean that such people do not need communication. On the contrary, such individuals need it more than others, which makes people resort to communication in the global world wide web, where you simply cannot do without a computer. Among the most common symptoms of this type of addiction, one can note an unbearable desire to check your e-mail box and spending a long time in chats and social networks. In addition, such people are constantly looking for new information for themselves on the network, although such information has never attracted them and does not carry useful knowledge. Many people are mistaken about viewing porn sites and similar magazines. Such an action cannot be called computer addiction, because before the appearance of such sites, a person bought porn magazines and watched porn films on television. In other words, the global world network in this matter can be safely considered only a tool that is required by people with violations of sexual education or sexual addiction. Direct computer addiction can be considered an addiction to video games, most of which are connected to the Internet. Such children have nothing to do with working on a computer, because they are attracted only by the possibility of playing. Most of these children are not able to communicate with a computer even at an average level of development, since this is simply not required for the game. Among such gamers, you can meet people of different ages, but for the most part, gambling addiction affects teenagers and people up to 30-35 years old. As a rule, the gameplay captivates players due to its visual and sound performance, which in our time have reached such a similarity with real life that players are subconsciously transferred to fictional worlds, where they feel like heroes or villains, which also has an indelible effect on the personality. We should not lose sight of such games that make players experience real emotional stress following the loss of game control or game character.
Types of malware
The simplest types of games that are not inweak arcades, which do not have stunning graphics and realistic sound, can be safely considered as games that can harm a child. Such gaming applications are most often used to pass the time, players rarely delve into the gameplay itself, content with some semblance of a video solution to a simple problem. In other words, arcades can be safely considered harmless versions of games, which to some extent can even develop children's thinking. Role-playing games have a completely opposite effect on the player's consciousness. The point is that the child enters the role of a certain hero, completely controlling his actions, worrying about his health and well-being. As a rule, it is role-playing games that can completely capture the player's attention, immersing him in a fictional game world that begins to seem real. Shooters, in which the entire game plot is tied to violence, can be considered no less harmful. As a rule, such games cause aggression and negative emotions in the younger generation, which over time prevail over common sense. In other words, children are strictly prohibited from playing such games, because the consequences of such an impact on the growing psyche can be irreversible. Most often, game addiction occurs in withdrawn children who spend very little time in the company of their peers, embarrassed by their appearance or some features of the body. This forces children to seek salvation in the virtual world, where they can become invincible heroes or killers, imagining other children in the role of their victims, who to one degree or another offended the gamer. The more such children are prohibited from playing video games, the stronger their addiction will become, which can cause further problems in raising a teenager. It is relatively easy to identify such an addiction, because this disease has its own symptoms, recognized by many scientists and analysts. As a rule, such symptoms are divided into physical and psychological, which should be described in more detail:
- Typically, the symptoms of a mental type in thisdisease have some similarities with the symptoms of many mental illnesses. Special attention should be paid to the most common signs of this type of disorder. Children no longer control the playing time or the time they spend in front of the monitor. Such children constantly give their parents promises, which talk about reducing the period of playing time, but as a rule, such promises remain simple words. Teenagers stop taking care of themselves, ceasing to be interested in social problems and life outside the game. If such a teenager is torn from his favorite occupation, he begins to get nervous and angry, which rarely benefits the family relations;
- To the physical symptoms of this type of diseasecan be attributed to the disruption of the work of the organs of vision, which is expressed in the reduction of visual features and in the display syndrome. The musculoskeletal system of the body is also affected. Children have problems with the spine, posture deteriorates, and the digestive system is disrupted. Constant malfunctions in the food process can adversely affect the state of the stomach and intestines.
Symptoms of the physical type cannot be attributed tospecific signs of computer addiction, because all the harm to the body is caused by sitting in one place for a long time and sleep and nutrition disorders. It is worth noting the fact that such physical symptoms are not a feature of gamers, because many people are simply forced to spend the whole day near the monitor due to work, which subsequently causes such symptoms. Today, you can find an incredible number of tests on the Internet that can detect computer addiction in every person.
The main dangers associated with this type of dependence
The described gaming and computer addictioncan cause real harm to a person. As a rule, the habit of interactive communication from an early age becomes the reason for the lack of desire for real communication in the future. Children cease to control the flow of time, which negatively affects their perception of the entire life cycle. Teenagers get out of control of their parents, and if they are forbidden to spend time in front of the monitor, you can stumble upon undisguised aggression, which will be directed at the offender. Separate attention should be paid to the perception of real life. After children can achieve any goal in the game extremely easily, they begin to think that in real life there is nothing complicated, just press a couple of buttons, and they will get everything they need for life. Some children even begin to believe in their invulnerability, which is often found in games, but it never ends well. Gamers often neglect food, which leads to more serious diseases, some of which can affect the rest of their lives. Time spent in front of the monitor negatively affects a person's vision, and also causes insomnia and frequent headaches. In other words, such an attachment to the virtual world can negatively affect the health and well-being of a teenager who spends little time caring for his growing body. In addition, constant access to the computer and the Internet causes children to simply stop thinking independently, because if the answer to every question can be found on the global network, why think independently? Many parents do not pay any attention to this, while others are completely happy that their children are constantly in their rooms and do not distract them with various requests. Such negligence often becomes the reason for children's addiction to the gaming and virtual world.
How to identify the game and computer addiction in children
As a rule, a change of interests and typeactivity - this is one of the aspects of proper rest of the mind and body of a person. In the case when children play the same game for hours, we can say with confidence that these are the first signs of gaming addiction. When an addicted person is torn away from the gaming process, he loses all signs of a good mood, falls into apathy and does not know what to do with himself. When children stop playing outside with each other, completely moving to the virtual world, this is gaming or computer addiction, from which children must be rid by all means. In order to make the right decision to eliminate this type of addiction, parents need to understand the main reasons for the appearance of such a disease. As a rule, children play certain games because they can realize all their dreams that are simply impossible in real life. In each game, you can do things that are prohibited or simply unrealistic in the real world. This applies to role-playing games and shooters, where you can kill people with impunity while enjoying the process. We should not forget about completely inadequate games, of which there are quite a lot these days. True nonsense is to the liking of the younger generation, which in later life can affect the thinking and perception of a teenager. There have been cases when children stopped being afraid of death because they got used to the fact that it is impossible to die in games. Such a peculiarity of perception can completely dull the instinct of self-preservation, which simply cannot be considered a positive effect of the gaming process.
Parental prohibitions
So, in order to prevent completethe decomposition of the child's consciousness, it is necessary to take the most drastic measures for his upbringing. You can't just take away a teenager's favorite computer. It is necessary to remember the methods of upbringing that were present in our childhood. For the opportunity to go for a walk on a weekday or a weekend, we had to do some work around the house, obey our parents, and also study relatively well at school. The same methods can be applied to the computer. For example, for bad grades, it is worth reducing the daily time of using the computer, and if the established rules are violated, access to games should be completely blocked. At first, this may seem cruel, and children will be angry with their parents. But it is worth remembering that parents will always be the cause of children's discontent, even if they are not forbidden anything. As for the games themselves, it is worth more closely monitoring what the child plays. Each game box has recommendations indicating the minimum permissible age of children who are allowed to play a particular game. Parents should pay attention to them first of all. It doesn’t matter whether the child wanted to play the game, but the fact that there is a 16+ sign on the back of the disc is important. In other words, it is necessary to control what the younger generation is into. Nowadays, it is much more difficult to do this, because no one buys games now, preferring to download them from special gaming portals. On the one hand, this allows you to save a decent amount of money, but on the other hand, parents stop controlling the type and class of games and applications that their children are into. Some parents will say that such control is simply impossible, but in fact this is absolutely not true. In order to see what the child is doing, you just need to visit his room. As a rule, unexpected visits always hit the mark, which forces children to refuse to play prohibited applications. This does not happen right away, but constant control is the key to success in education. So, from all that has been said, we can make a logical conclusion that gaming addiction can have a detrimental effect on the state of the psyche and health of a person, especially if it is still a child. The main task of parents is to prevent such influence of the virtual world by introducing a number of rules and prohibitions regarding the time spent in front of the monitor.