6 REASONS WHY KIDS DON'T NEED SMARTPHONES

Nearly everyone uses a
smartphone now including kids.
Yes, kids. Kids are smarter and
brighter now, that they have little
or no difficulty navigating
handheld devices. Even parents
will be surprised by their
knowledge. Of course, you
cannot prevent this because we
are in the digital age. However,
few people fail to consider the
side effects smartphones have
on these kids. Remember, unlike
in the past, children of today
grow up early and are exposed
to all sorts of things.
Jumia Travel, Africa's No 1 hotel
booking portal shares 6 things
you should consider before
buying a smartphone for kids.
1. Facebooking instead of
reading books: for many kids
who own smartphones, their
new book is Facebook. They
spend so much time on social
media that they barely read their
books. This will no doubt affect
their output and performance in
school. This can be clearly
reflected in the recent failures
recorded in national exams.
2. Early exposure to nude
images: with a smartphone,
children get unhindered access
to nude images and watch
inappropriate content online.
You will not be aware of this
except you check their online
activities. But this will be difficult
because they know how to hide
these contents.
3. Sexting: instant messaging
apps like WhatsApp, BBM and
Facebook messengers amongst
others have made it easy for
sexting to happen. Sexting
means chatting about sex on the
aforementioned instant
messaging platforms. A handful
of kids engaged in sexting.
4. Digital dementia: many kids
are now suffering from Attention
Deficit Disorder (ADD). They can
only concentrate on their
phones. Children can't learn if
they cannot pay attention.
5. Early addiction: if your child is
having ADD, it is time to take
away that phone from them. This
will help them break the
addiction before it becomes
uncontrollable. According to a
recent study, one in 11 children
aged 8-18 years are addicted to
technology. You don't want this
for your child.
6.Sleep deprivation: a child who
is addicted to a smartphone will
deprive himself sleep. The
consequences of sleep denied is
dire because it will affect their
overall life cycle.
By Adeniyi OGUNFOWOKE
PR Associate
Curled from Flatimes