The mobile Phones were freely available in India for about fifteen years now.
The first time, Anna and I needed to make a decision about possessing one was in 2001, when Anandit was to spend one year at Hyderabad. Anandit expressed the desire to have a mobile, to stay in touch without having to searc for a public phone booth. That is how Anandit became the first person in our family to have a mobile phone. We have been most impressed by the way Anandit has used the phone discretely over these years and has found many applications to help him.
Aswathy, is a frequent caller and every time Anna or I receive the call, we feel glad for the advantage the mobile phone brings to stay in touch. Some conversations are for longer periods which do not have to wait till we meet personally, as the mobile charges are affordable and audibility is normally good. Such conversations are refreshing and make us feel connected with some details, which one amy forget if we were to wait till we met with each other to share them.
We have good impressions about the mobile phones if it is seen as a valuable tool to promote communication. The social media too have some contributions to our lives in a changing culture of promoting instant information access.
But to think of mobile replacing all the other conventional and necessary environment of young children, such as toys, books, creative art, music and singing, interactive play, out-door play, etc. is worrisome.
I have noticed even seven months old babies being pacified with music from the mobile phone. Some parents offer the mobile phone to their children as their first toy. During the whole consultation of forty five minutes, a nine months old child was mouthing the mobile phone or dropping it to hear the sound or listening to film music the parents had switched on for him. A two years old child during the consultation did not greet me or allow me to examine him, as he was engaged in watching a cartoon on the mobile phone.
The parenting style has changed and would change even more. One couple told me that it is easier to feed their three year old child if she is allowed to play games on the mobile phone, while feeding. Parents deem it fit to violate good practices with no sense of regret.
Children would get used to what we introduce to them. They do not make the choice, till we condition them to choose by default. The parent's choice of using mobile phones to occupy them would deprave them of other childhood experiences.
Use the mobile, but watch out for its addictive effect on children! We would condition the young children to a 'mechanical behaviour' and deny them of the larger opportunities of learning in childhood, if we introduce mobile phone use to them.
M.C.Mathew(text and phone)
We have good impressions about the mobile phones if it is seen as a valuable tool to promote communication. The social media too have some contributions to our lives in a changing culture of promoting instant information access.
But to think of mobile replacing all the other conventional and necessary environment of young children, such as toys, books, creative art, music and singing, interactive play, out-door play, etc. is worrisome.
I have noticed even seven months old babies being pacified with music from the mobile phone. Some parents offer the mobile phone to their children as their first toy. During the whole consultation of forty five minutes, a nine months old child was mouthing the mobile phone or dropping it to hear the sound or listening to film music the parents had switched on for him. A two years old child during the consultation did not greet me or allow me to examine him, as he was engaged in watching a cartoon on the mobile phone.
The parenting style has changed and would change even more. One couple told me that it is easier to feed their three year old child if she is allowed to play games on the mobile phone, while feeding. Parents deem it fit to violate good practices with no sense of regret.
Children would get used to what we introduce to them. They do not make the choice, till we condition them to choose by default. The parent's choice of using mobile phones to occupy them would deprave them of other childhood experiences.
Use the mobile, but watch out for its addictive effect on children! We would condition the young children to a 'mechanical behaviour' and deny them of the larger opportunities of learning in childhood, if we introduce mobile phone use to them.
M.C.Mathew(text and phone)
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