Childhood and screens in the covid era.

In the pandemic stage that we are going through, family and upbringing issues have undergone serious changes and tensions. Non-face-to-face schooling in Argentina throughout 2020 has required role changes and much more active participation by mothers and fathers.

Within this context, girls and boys have been seen more than ever removed from their bonds of friendship and transferred to massive and extensive use of screens, which had even previously been gaining ground.

Given the current situation, it becomes essential to be able to intervene with initiatives that do not correspond to the use of technologies. The tiredness of both children and adults is evident, therefore, playful and expressive alternatives must be offered that convene the family in order to build from the bond and protect spaces that are essential from the point of view of health.

The presence of screens constantly in front of very young children is already known. From before the year of life, they are exposed to technology. Although this is a resource that can be used occasionally, it cannot be a tool for mass use. Technology is the vehicle of speed and transports us to the world of the immediate. There is no procrastination, and once inside that system, any procrastination generates symptoms of irritation and anguish.

It certainly happens to us adults. We base our life on the use of the internet and when it is cut or interrupted, our entire life seems to collapse. But this brought to childhood is a big problem, because there are modes of discernment and development that have not yet been reached, there is no possibility of questioning much of this, and the journey leads them to grow up with this reality as the only viable or possible one.

That is why we must intervene to limit and show other alternatives. It is not about keeping him/her out of what is happening in the world: technological advances, games, etc. But it does help limit access, and not allow indiscriminate use. The boy or girl does not know the limit, we adults must mark it.

The issue of screens in childhood is something that is frequently addressed, but we must return to it with even more impetus at this stage in which virtuality has advanced out of necessity. It is very important that the times when virtuality is not used due to force majeure, dispersion activities are carried out that are not done by this means. Outdoors if possible and with the necessary care, including a walk around the neighborhood, being able to observe what surrounds them, play a classic game like I see or I see, for example.

It is extremely important to be able to strengthen creative display spaces, with toys and artistic materials. It is essential that children express, generate, transform their environment, and not just passively receive information or products made by others.

In the era of covid, where technology and internet access is practically a basic need, what does not correspond to this need must be moved elsewhere. We have to think of family dynamics in a stage of profound transformation, in a crisis that has been going on for a long time now but that the confinement strengthened and reactivated with more force. The models that are outdated have to give way to new forms, where the limits and the playful and emotional accompaniment occupy a place of importance.

 

Thank You

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