This article is based on a real experience.
One of my friend’s sons started improving his English grade. The reason he told me was, his son used to play mindless mobile games, and when I recommended him an android app game connect words. He installed it on his son’s mobile and after playing it. His wasted time was converted into something useful. This is what this game does – It increases vocabulary, focus, and IQ.
Now how it started. We need to understand that most kids and teenagers don’t like to read books. When I was a kid I used to play outdoor games for hours but at that time parents don’t have any alternative so we need to rely on books with fancied pictures. That’s what we like and found it entertaining and that makes us glued to that book.
However, another advantage at that time was playing with educational toys for kids. which I still recommend is the most powerful tool which makes kids engaged (but not teenagers).
Millions of kids and teenagers are using cellphone this time and are glued to them for their whole. Addicted games have become a serious problem and which results in wasting time, depression, and sometimes even suicide. But that doesn’t mean stopping your kid from using the internet or games.
After analyzing data from 35,000 American children ages 6 months to 17 years (and their caregivers), researchers found that the sweet spot seems to be about one to two hours of screen time a day. “Screen time” includes using digital devices such as iPads and watching television.
The kids who were exposed to the optimal amount of screen time had better levels of social and emotional well-being than kids who weren’t allowed to use digital devices.
So banning kids from using technology altogether, or implementing age restrictions, isn’t the best solution for parents who are concerned about their children’s screen use, “particularly as screen usage in some cases has a net positive impact,” Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute and study author said in a press release.
Now, what should we do. The best solution is allowing kids to play games but not the ones which will addict them but the ones which will benefit them on the long term like Word games.
Now you need to be cautious about few apps. I cannot name an app directly but some apps claim to teach coding to kids. I would suggest using an app that is good for kids. This is common-sense a kid cannot learn coding or something which we learn at the college level. Kids first need to learn Alphabets, spelling, vocabulary, and thousands of more things. Claiming to teach coding to kids is like claiming teaching kids to ride motorbike which will result in an accident.