Without a doubt, we can name a lot of advantages that the opening of the computer and the global Internet network brought: with its help you can find any information, keep abreast of the latest news, it is possible to communicate with friends and comrades on social networks, play a variety of video games.
But the latter has just brought a lot of suffering to the parents of children-gambling addicts, has become a huge problem for humanity. Every day more and more new patients with a diagnosis of gambling addiction get to see a psychologist.
Why is the computer so attractive for modern children?
Experts working in this direction have named several main reasons, including:
- In the world of the Internet, there are no laws and regulations that need to be adhered to. In online games, the child will not receive any injuries, which is considered an important advantage.
- “Voynushki” give the child the opportunity to throw out all the collected negative energy outward, no one will recognize this, and will not scold.
- Also, anyone can write anything about themselves: change the name, surname, age, appearance, etc. Nobody checks this on the network.
- The Internet is a completely different world, which is called “virtual”, in other words – invented. The child himself chooses how to build his own parallel life in him, which he can change when he wants to, bring in his ideas, show independence and children’s fantasies.
- Games give children the opportunity to try themselves in a variety of roles, to feel like an adult, famous and irreplaceable person, all the attention belongs only to him.
If it was possible to return time back, the parents of most adolescents would hardly say thank you to the scientist who made this great discovery, and would gladly return it back. But why are they so afraid of these toys, most of which develop memory, thinking, logic, competitive spirit, broaden their horizons? A lot of scientific work has been done in this direction.
Psychologists believe that all the misunderstanding lies in the fact that:
- Parents are tired of repeating that the computer has a bad effect on vision. Although, doctors say that you just need to take a break, control the lighting, and there will be no harm.
- Dads and mothers cannot understand their children because they played completely different games that took place in the fresh air, therefore they had a positive effect on health, including physical activity.
- The global network will not be harmful if filters are installed on sites with negative information and on those that are intended exclusively for persons who have reached the age of 18.
- There are many games that are prototypes, for example “war games” are pillow games, “shooting games” are games with slingshots and pistols. Previously, these games also allowed children to throw out all the negative emotions and aggression.
A large number of psychologists call the computer a drug of the XXI century, believe that it destroys the psyche of a child, causes psychological dependence, and can immediately name the main symptoms of an incipient addiction:
- The teenager stops communicating on any topic other than computer games.
- The child stops playing sports, abandons school, does not attend school circles, does not watch TV, rarely goes outside.
- He stops communicating with peers and relatives.
- The student becomes irritable, nervous, constantly throwing tantrums if parents try to restrict access to the Internet or even ban it altogether.
To avoid computer addiction, parents need to know that it develops on the basis of many factors:
- inadequate self-esteem of the child;
- transitional age;
- lack of communication and attention;
- conflicts in the family.
Dear parents, be attentive to your children, devote more time to them, and then the computer will be exclusively an assistant (for example, in studies, in communicating with distant friends), and the term “virtual world” will remain something unfamiliar and incomprehensible.