A recent study was conducted in Canada on the influence of phones and computers on children with anxiety. The study reveals that if these gadgets are kept in the bedrooms of children, they may disrupt their sleep and may increase their anxiety. This may ultimately affect the children’s performance in their studies. Another study reveals that the number of texts children have been sending has been on the increase and this may also cause a lot of distraction.
How do computers and phones affect these children?
Several studies conducted earlier have proved that televisions may also negatively impact children with anxiety. The reason why televisions, computers and telephones in bedrooms negatively impact children with anxiety is that children will start viewing bedrooms more as entertainment zones rather than as places where they should relax and sleep. The results of these studies clearly show that these gadgets are capable of affecting and influencing these children. Children, if allowed to frequently view video games that contain violent scenes, will start imagining violent things and so, they may always be on edge.
What should be done to help children with anxiety?
If you think that medications prescribed for treating children with anxiety will help them, you may be disappointed because these medicines may not help in teaching them the required skills they need for performing well in their studies or for leading a normal life. That is why behavioral strategies are suggested for handling these children. These are not complicated techniques but they can effectively make the lives of these children easier. These techniques are nothing but parenting skills and a few experts call them as home-management tips.
Provide a friendly ambiance to your children
You should first realize that by having televisions, computers and phones in bedrooms, you are not providing your children with a good ambiance. Further, if there is a lot of clutter in your home, you should immediately take steps to keep everything in an organized manner. You and more importantly, your children should know where their books, clothes, school bags, toys are kept. Apart from saving a lot of time that is wasted on searching things, this step will avoid confusion also. If children do not find their things immediately, it may increase their anxiety. If everything is kept in proper places, they may find the things they want easily.
In general, these children may get distracted easily and it is one of the strongest reasons for suggesting that you should not keep gadgets like phones and computers in their bedrooms. If they get distracted, that may affect their sleep.
Importance of sleep
Experts strongly recommend that parents should avoid keeping gadgets like televisions, phones and computers in children’s bedrooms. Apart from removing these items from their bedrooms, parents should set a routine for bedtimes for children also for improving their sleeping habits. If parents ensure that their children retire for bed about an hour earlier, they can help in improving their overall performance in all their activities. But, if there is a loss of sleep due to these gadgets, it may cause serious impairments in them.
So, healthcare professionals and parents of children with anxiety should learn a lot on how phones and computers will negatively impact these children and how proper sleep can play a major role in enhancing their performance in all their activities.