- Development from A to Z
Many parents are convinced that a preschooler or elementary school student needs a computer only for entertainment. They are partly right: a computer, through the eyes of children, is indeed an incredibly attractive and exciting toy. However, we should not forget that children learn about the world through play, and the more varied the games, the more benefits they will bring.
Today there are a lot of educational games and programs for children of different ages that allow you to playfully teach a child to distinguish colors and shapes, learn the seasons and names of objects, and learn to read and count. Here's what one of our regular readers, Julia, mother of a 3-year-old baby, says about this:
I believe that computers and tablets are the salvation of parents. ☺ The child is busy, the child is developing. For example, we have already learned geometric shapes and colors thanks to an application on the tablet. » «
At the same time, one cannot deny the negative impact of computers, excessive use of which can provoke health problems, difficulties in socialization and the development of a gaming addiction in a child.
Child studying computer
Modern children become acquainted with a computer at the age of 3-4 years, and by the age of 7, a child becomes a real “ace” who is able to teach various computer tricks to less “advanced” relatives. The main task of parents is to control and direct this process, selecting only useful games and programs for the child that promote the development of intelligence.
The influence of a computer on a child's intelligence
The most useful for children of junior and senior preschool age are special educational and educational games. These include:
- graphic editors, including the simplest “drawing” and “coloring” books;
- music editors, especially special applications for tablets;
- puzzles, from the simplest with 1-2 elements for children from 3 years old, to complex ones that will be interesting for both children and adults to assemble;
- presentation pictures with text and sound, for example the popular Doman cards;
- interactive children's encyclopedias;
- logic puzzle games, for example, classic Tetris.
Such games stimulate the development of the child, in particular, they develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, memory and logic, attention and reaction speed. In addition, games greatly facilitate the learning process and serve to prepare the child for life in the information society.
Naturally, this does not mean that you can hand a one-year-old baby a tablet or sit him in front of a monitor for the whole day and consider your pedagogical duty fulfilled. For full development, a child needs communication with parents and peers, outdoor games and “ordinary” toys: pyramids, balls, cars and dolls. Communication with a computer for preschoolers should be limited to 10-15 minutes, and for younger schoolchildren to 20-30 minutes, no more than 2 times a day and with breaks between “sessions” of at least 2-3 hours.
Excessive involvement of children with computers, instead of the expected benefits, can cause significant harm. For example, replacing live communication and games with parents and peers with even the best developmental programs leads to disturbances in the physical and intellectual development of the child. In particular, in the last year alone, the number of children with delayed speech development has increased by 40%, and children with delayed psycho-speech development by 20%. And pediatricians associate these numbers precisely with the “computerization” of our lives.
How does a computer affect a child's health?
The computer negatively affects the child if the child spends too much time in front of the monitor. Moreover, the baby’s vision and psyche are the first to suffer. Also, long games on the computer cause overwork and can cause headaches, and an incorrect posture or an uncomfortable workplace leads to scoliosis, pain in the back, lower back, shoulders and neck. In order not to be unfounded, we will dwell on these aspects in more detail.
The influence of a computer on a child's vision
The high brightness and flickering of a computer monitor, as well as the need to constantly focus your gaze in one direction and at the same distance, cause rapid fatigue of the eye muscles. And regular overwork of the eye muscles leads to loss of visual acuity and can cause the development of myopia.
In addition, a person normally blinks about 20-25 times per minute, but when working at a computer, the frequency of blinks decreases to 1-2 times per minute. A decrease in the frequency of blinking leads to drying out of the mucous membrane of the eyes - as a result, such unpleasant symptoms as burning in the eyes, redness of the eyes, and a feeling of “sand” under the eyelids appear.
In order to reduce the negative impact of the computer on a child’s vision, it is necessary:
- limit the time of continuous work in front of the monitor to 10-20 minutes for preschoolers and 20-30 minutes for schoolchildren;
- immediately after working at the computer, the child should wash his face with clean, cool water, and then do special exercises for the eyes;
- During a break from the computer, the child should be offered activities that do not cause eye strain. Ideally, outdoor games or any physical activity, but it is better to avoid reading or watching TV;
- Make sure that your computer monitor does not reflect light from natural or artificial light sources in the room. Glare on the monitor provokes additional stress on the eye muscles.
note
: The better the quality of the monitor, the higher its resolution and image clarity, the less harm it does to vision. Modern monitors with a special anti-reflective coating are the safest.
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The influence of a computer on a child’s posture
Strictly speaking, it is not the computer itself that has a negative impact on the child’s posture, but the child’s incorrect posture while working on it. This factor has a particularly negative effect on the health of the spine if the child spends several hours a day watching the monitor and does not devote enough time to physical activity and sports.
If a child sits in front of a computer, lounging in a chair, or, on the contrary, constantly slouches and bends forward, his spine is deformed. This in turn leads to back pain, headaches, improper formation of the spine and the development of scoliosis.
The correct posture when working on a computer looks like this:
note
: A carefully equipped workplace will help to minimize the load on the spine and ensure the child’s correct posture when working on the computer. At the same time, the usual “adult” office furniture will do more harm than good: the furniture must correspond to the height of the child.
The influence of a computer on a child’s psyche
The main danger of the virtual world for the child’s psyche is that the child identifies himself with the hero of the computer game. It’s good if this is a “peaceful” hero of an educational game who bakes pies, heals animals or grows flowers. But children quickly get bored with such games: boys prefer to see themselves as the savior of the world, fearlessly destroying aliens or monsters, girls are attracted to virtual simulators of modeling and show business. Passion for such games leads to a child’s distorted perception of reality: aggressive behavior, physical violence and even murder cease to be something terrible in the eyes of children.
Too dynamic games, such as car racing simulators, excite the child’s nervous system and cause rapid fatigue. As a result, sleep and appetite are disrupted, irritability and aggression appear, concentration and learning ability decrease.
Therefore, for preschoolers and children of primary school age, all “adult” games with elements of aggression and too dynamic games, including arcades and simulators, are absolutely prohibited. Such games have a negative impact on the baby’s psyche.
Note:
To make it easier for parents to select games for their children, special game ratings have been created, for example, in Europe Pan European Game Information (PEGI) is used. This rating consists of two parts: the age limit and a brief description of the content in the form of a warning logo. PEGI divides games into 5 age categories: 3+, 7+, 12+, 16+ and 18+. In Russia, a similar system is called RSVR - Russian Age Rating System, according to which age categories are distributed as follows: 0+, 6+, 12+, 16+ and 18+. Games from the first category are suitable for the youngest users, games from the last category are, accordingly, intended only for adults.
At the same time, we should not forget that an unhealthy atmosphere in the family, conflicts in kindergarten or school are much more dangerous than any computer games for the child’s psyche. It is these factors that often form a gaming addiction and encourage a child to “escape” from problems into the virtual world.
The influence of the computer on sex education
The Internet has made almost any information available, including the content of so-called “adult sites.” Naturally, the task of parents is to protect their child from visiting such resources, because the information presented on them, to put it mildly, is not intended for young users and can cause irreparable harm to the delicate child’s psyche and further sexual development.
The easiest way is to install the “parental controls” function with a high level of filtering in the antivirus settings. In this way, you will protect your home computer and mobile devices with Internet access, but you will not get a 100% guarantee that your child will not access prohibited sites using a friend’s computer. That is why it is important to hear from you about natural sexual relationships between a man and a woman.
In the age of information technology, parents should pay special attention to sex education of children, answering their questions in detail and correctly, without hiding behind stories about cabbage or storks. Your task is to win the child’s trust so that he turns to you and not to the search engine with all the piquant questions.
It is you who must explain to him that sex is natural and wonderful, however, only when it is one of the ways of expressing love between adults. It is especially important to emphasize that this applies only to adults. Warn in a gentle form about the dangers of early sexual activity and do not forget to tell in detail about means of contraception.
“The influence of computer technology on the psyche of children”
The computer has long become an integral part of our daily life. And children are often introduced to computers from the cradle. Parents are faced with a dilemma: experts are divided on when this acquaintance should begin.
Classes using computers for children 5-7 years old should be conducted no more than once during the day and no more than three times a week on days of highest performance: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After the lesson, the children are given eye exercises.
Continuous duration of work with a computer in educational game classes. In preschool educational institution according to SanPin:
- for children 5 years old should not exceed 10 minutes
- for children 6-7 years old - 15 minutes. For children with chronic pathology,
- often ill (more than 4 times a year), after illness for 2 weeks, the duration of computer classes should be reduced for children 5 years old to 7 minutes,
- for children 6 years old - up to 10 minutes. Constrained posture (as a result of sitting in a stationary position for a long time, headaches, numbness, pain in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and back appear);
- Impact on the psyche (can cause mental dependence, become a factor of stress, irritability, increased excitability, this especially applies to hyperactive children).
To reduce the tediousness of computer classes, it is necessary to ensure a hygienically rational organization of the workplace: furniture that matches the child’s height, a sufficient level of illumination. The video monitor screen should be at eye level or slightly lower, at a distance of no closer than 50 cm. A child wearing glasses should work at the computer while wearing them. It is unacceptable to use one computer for simultaneous activities of two or more children. Computer classes for children are carried out in the presence of a teacher or educator (methodologist).
For parents at home:
Occasional (no more than 3-4 times a week and no more than once a day) work at a computer for a short time is allowed for:
3-4 year old child 10-15 minutes a day,
5-6 years - 20-30 minutes,
7-8 years - 40-60 minutes.
There are 3 main harmful factors:
1. Stress on vision (sitting in front of the computer, we do not notice the constant flickering of the screen and its glow, which lead to tension in the intraocular muscles, which is why dry eye syndrome often develops).
Vision. With proper body positioning, the strain on vision from the computer can be reduced.
Under no circumstances should you work at a computer in the dark.
Distance to screen 50-70 cm.
Static pose.
While playing on the computer, stretch your hands from time to time using an elastic toy.
Maintain a right angle in the joint area while sitting at the table.
After playing on the computer, play outdoor games.
Mental stress.
The real pests of a child's psyche are games containing images moving at high speed.
Games like "Kill them all". “Win, no matter what.”
It is necessary to exclude such games so as not to traumatize the child’s psyche.
How many people have asked the question: “is he ready to communicate with a computer? This problem is rarely discussed, and many parents are likely unaware of its existence.
Communication with a computer is not a habitual activity for a preschooler. It requires maximum mobilization of attention and concentration of forces. There are often cases when children have difficulty mastering the skills of communicating with and operating a computer, and there are also those who flatly refuse to learn how to use it or have a hidden wary attitude towards it.
Hidden wariness towards computer activities can give rise to a child’s lack of self-confidence, a persistent negative attitude towards the computer, and even fear of it. Such disorganization of the emotional sphere will negatively affect intellectual development and health.
What is the reason for the negativism towards working on a computer?
The difficulties that arise when a child communicates with a computer are largely related to the peculiarities of his body’s adaptation to a new type of activity. These features are due to the specific development of children of this age group. Children aged 5-6 years are characterized by incomplete (anatomical) and functional development of their organs and systems, which determines the body’s high sensitivity to any influences.
When the limits of endurance to influencing factors are violated, the child very easily develops deviations in the state of health and disorders in the functioning of various physiological systems. This has been convincingly proven by studies of the adaptation of six-year-old children to systematic learning at school. At first, some children experience various neurotic reactions that are excitable; they react inadequately to any remark - they cry or behave aggressively. Gradually, in the process of adaptation, the child’s body adapts to new conditions: the child reacts more calmly to the loads offered to him, masters the skills of educational activities that ensure not only academic success, but also emotional and mental well-being.
When a child begins to communicate with a computer, the functional systems of his body also adapt to new conditions. In order for adaptation to not be very stressful and long-lasting, a certain “maturity” of those functions that ensure the success of mastering this type of activity is necessary.
What functions are especially significant for a child’s communication with a computer?
To answer this question you need to carefully observe his behavior and actions. The main problems of any activity of a preschooler are organization, attention, and the ability to concentrate for a certain time.
At the initial stage of training, he learns to operate the keyboard, quickly and accurately press the necessary keys. At the same time, the child periodically looks from the monitor screen to the keyboard and back. In 10 minutes of working on the computer, a child usually makes 80-100 such movements. But often you have to work at a faster pace imposed by the program. In this case, children have difficulty finding the right key and make mistakes. Consequently, the organization of activity and the development of motor functions will be significant for working with the keyboard.
The child examines objects and objects of different sizes on the screen, turns his gaze to the keyboard and, distracted, fixes his gaze on more distant objects. Consequently, the development of his visual system, which experiences increased stress, is also especially significant for working on a computer.
Computer classes involve solving gradually more complex spatial and logical problems that require sufficiently developed abstract thinking, the ability to compare, contrast, analyze, as well as the ability to quickly mobilize all one’s knowledge and skills.
Preschoolers work with different computer programs. Working with a new program each time requires different spatial, motor reactions (coordination) of the hands associated with control (pressing keyboard keys). The location of the hot keys changes when changing programs. When switching to a new program, children have to remember the proposed control rules and the location of the keys.
Consequently, for a preschooler to successfully work on a computer, a sufficient level of development of working memory is necessary. More complex programs require a sufficient level of development of the child’s logical and visual thinking.
Results of the experimental study
In the first series of studies, the level of development of motor functions, mental performance and short-term memory was determined. The children under observation were 5-6 years old, systematically studying on a computer for a year (group 1) and studying (group 2).
The research revealed that children in group 1, compared to children in group 2, had better results in such indicators as the development of the motor system, attention, working memory, speed and quality of task completion, as well as the number of works without errors.
The same pattern was observed in indicators of the state of short-term memory. A “high” level of its development was noted in the majority of children in group 1 (70%) and only in 34% of preschoolers in the group. Children who systematically studied on a computer had either a high or average level of short-term memory development. In the group of those who did not use a computer, some children (20%) had a “low” level of development of this function. The average score in group 1 was 8 points (maximum value 9 points), and in group 2 - only 6 points.
Thus, the assumption has been experimentally confirmed that for the successful work of preschoolers 5-6 years old on a computer, the following are significant: the development of attention, working memory, hand and finger movements
It can be argued that the results obtained only indicate that working on a computer develops the above-mentioned psychophysiological qualities. Absolutely right. And at the same time, it proves their importance for this type of activity, because the success of mastering this (like any other) activity directly depends on the level of maturity (readiness) of significant functions.
Educational games. The simplest and most accessible type of correction and development of children’s abilities, most often cognitive, are computer games: logical, cognitive. A number of games can be used to correct basic emotional and behavioral disorders
(aggressiveness, isolation)
In correctional and developmental work, individual episodes of a game are most often used, simulating communication situations that need to be played out by a psychologist with a child. In this, computer games are similar to book and card materials, but have advantages over them: better graphics, interactivity and mobility of the game characters. Various episodes of quests, role-playing games and strategies contain or allow you to simulate any interaction situations.
Is playing computer games dangerous for children? After all, it is simply impossible to imagine a modern child without this...
The danger is that, unlike drug addiction and alcoholism, where parents notice changes in the child’s behavior and social environment immediately, gaming addiction is not noticeable: the child is at home, safe, he is passionate about what he is doing. But gradually the symptoms of addiction begin to appear: it is enough to deprive the child of the opportunity to play, and we will get approximately the same picture of “withdrawal” as with any other addiction. Irritability, sudden mood swings, and even outright aggression will appear.
- This dependence is psychological, but scientists say that changes begin to occur at the physiological level: a large amount of adrenaline is produced, a restructuring of biochemical processes in the body occurs. This is especially acute at the moment of loss, when there is no way to move from one game level to another, or when parents do not buy a new version of the game. This is where very serious behavioral problems begin to appear. Such children may experience auto-aggression (activity aimed at causing harm to themselves): if unsuccessful, they may, for example, bang their heads against the wall, causing physical injury to themselves. If we talk about concomitant diseases, both the gastrointestinal tract and the nervous system suffer. A similar picture can be observed in very young children, whom their parents leave in front of the TV for a long time: after some time, the kids can no longer do without watching some kind of non-children's programs, especially TV shows.
- There are quite innocent Internet games, such as chess or naval battle, are they dangerous? They do not pose any danger in themselves. The worrying thing is that any virtual game lacks real communication. The child does not master the skill of entering into communication, the ability to recognize his own feelings and emotions, the feelings and emotions of another person, and adapt to his communication partner.
in large doses. Those small problems that existed in studies or communication begin to get worse, and the further you go, the more of them there are. And then the child begins to look for new games, new sensations, new illusions.
Recommendations for parents:
When buying a computer, parents should remember the most banal rules: together with their child, agree on clear rules for interaction with this attribute of modernity. Moreover, it is important to form the correct attitude towards the computer as a tool for achieving any goals in activity, and not as the goal itself, which happens when addiction occurs. It is important that parents offer their child alternative leisure activities, preferably joint ones. Addiction prevention is also helped by maintaining a computer work schedule, physical activity, and sports. It is impossible to invent anything new here: the child must be engaged in meaningful activities and lead a healthy lifestyle. There are practically no Internet addicts among athletes! There is the same excitement, the same pleasure from victory, from competition.
When limiting a dependent child’s access to a computer, you need to be prepared for the fact that he will begin to show aggressiveness and express dissatisfaction. Such manifestations must be treated calmly, understanding that any disease does not go away on its own. In addition, it is necessary to determine with whom the child interacted during the formation of addiction, and isolate him from his usual social circle. But when we take away, we must give something in return. Together with the child, you need to think through and build a model for his leisure time, help him find new activities, interests, and life values.
Source:
https://nsportal.ru/detskiy-sad/zdorovyv-obraz-zhizni/2016/1 l/07/statva-vlivanie-kompyuternvh-tehnologiy-na-psihiku
