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One third of Russian families have children under the age of 12 who use the Internet. And 81% of parents, according to VTsIOM, monitor what their child is watching – they keep their finger on the pulse to secure their presence on the Web. Why is this necessary and how does what children see on the Internet affect their self-determination? The psychologist explains.
To the release of the full-length cartoon “» we interviewed neuropsychologist and psychodramatherapist Olga Agafonova. We talk about the impact of content on children and how fairy-tale characters form values and guidelines.
Watch cartoons with your child
The digital world is the main children’s educator. You can’t get away from this anymore. As psychologist Olga Agafonova notes, children used to be influenced by live games and fairy tales, but now virtual reality plays a greater role.
“It is better that the child does not watch films alone, let his parents or those whom he trusts be with him,” the expert clarifies. “You can press pause and ask if he understood what happened here. A beautiful picture, songs, magic – all this attracts, but it is also important to explain the relationship between the characters.
A great example is a fresh full-length ““. The cartoon is not only for children, but for family viewing – parents will also be interested. It is rather ironic, but kindly spelled out the problems of modern society.
Three types of ponies that look so much like people: advanced pegasi in a metropolis in the mountains, unicorns live a free life in forest houses, earth ponies in a provincial town. In this world, magic has disappeared, and the ponies have fenced themselves off from each other and consider them enemies. Overcoming difficulties, the main characters return magic to the world of small horses.
This is what you can talk about with a child: we are all different, some have horns, some have wings, but this will not prevent us from being friends. And friendship can work wonders. When the ponies unite, they return magic to their world.
“You can be anyone!”
The period from 4 to 10 years is the most important for the child in terms of receiving information from the outside world.1. He absorbs everything he sees and hears. And all this in order to find their own interests, to understand who he is, how he can communicate with the world. This is self-determination.
Olga Agafonova notes: “A child can try himself in different roles, try to copy others, try on images, interests and weed out what does not fit. First, parents lay the foundation, then friends and school are added. Everything that is read, heard and seen in cartoons is also added.
That’s why the fairy-tale world of little ponies is good, because it is a projection of real life. Children easily associate themselves with magical horses, and the characters are very well written in this fantasy world.
All ponies are very different both externally and in character. One radiates with positive and stubbornly achieves its goals, the other horse is strong, the third is smart, the fourth is kind and friendly … Ponies offer the child a choice. You can be anyone – try it!
According to a study by MSUPE, 77% of parents believe that it is the school that should educate children
At the same time, 50,1% of parents note that love for one’s neighbor, mercy, justice and dignity have ceased to be valued in society.2. Where can children learn this?
“In order for a child to become successful, to be able to feel confident, it is necessary that adults pay attention to his uniqueness and features,” says the psychologist. “But it’s important not to overfeed or overload him with choices. It happens that a child wants to join a drama club and to sing. Parents completely clog the schedule of children, including weekends. And this leads to exhaustion.
The child gets tired and may stop taking even what he likes. He begins to get confused from physical fatigue, does not know which circle to choose, he likes at least something. For example, the first grade is often successful on the effect of novelty, but in the second grade, children are already overloaded with early development and begin to “crumble” because of the desire of parents to make a genius out of a child.
According to Harris Insights & Analytics’ Confidence in Learning study, 79% of students experience negative emotions due to academic performance. If you look at a survey among Russian teachers, 68% of respondents believe that a sense of insecurity and anxiety interferes with schoolchildren in their studies.3.
How do cartoons affect children?
So what is your child watching? You choose, and he absorbs. If there is endless action, fights and quarrels on the screen, you get one behavior. If in a cartoon the main values are kindness, the ability to accept each other, then you are laying a completely different relationship with the world. Surely the child has a favorite character. And this is a great way to learn more about the nature of your son or daughter.
Between the ages of 4 and 5, the child begins to form an arbitrary memory. At preschool age, memory is included in the process of personality formation.4. At the same time, the first childhood memories can already be stored from the age of three or four, which is why the environment and the information field are so important.
In the self-determination of the child, it is also important how the parents behave. Psychologist Olga Agafonova notes: “Children take behavior patterns for themselves and rely on them, as, for example, in the case of the relationship between mom and dad. These guidelines are then transferred to ideas about the family life of the children themselves.
It’s simple: if you want to raise a child cultured and kind, you need to start with yourself
“If you read a lot at home and talk to each other, go to theaters and exhibitions, go in for sports, walk, then the child copies you. However, this should not be thoughtless filling of time to the eyeballs, the psychologist notes. – You show, and then see how the child responds to it. And leave what he wanted. It is absolutely normal when a child starts and quits, tries and changes.
For example, the child went to a circle where you need to work in a team. He is in a bind, his comrades rely on him, and then he wants to stop. To develop a sense of responsibility, explain that if this is a team game, then he is expected to be one of the players. Ask if he is ready to leave and leave the team.
If so, offer to go together and tell the coach and the guys about it yourself. If the child is willing to endure until the end of the season, encourage him to stay and explain that he can then leave. If there is a crisis and hysteria, of course, let it go. But he concludes that it’s not worth going into team sports.”
Let the child choose, but always guide him. Self-determination is a journey that parents and children make together. It is you who read books to your child and turn on cartoons. You are the filter that cleans the information for him.
Remember that it is the parents who are those little ponies from the fairy tale who return the magic, helping their children learn to live, grow and make friends.
About expert
Olga Agafonova neuropsychologist, psychodramatherapist. Her .
1 American Academy of Pediatrics website. Recommendations for preventive pediatric health care. www.aap.org/en-us/Documents/periodicity_schedule.pdf. Updated March 2020. Accessed January 14, 2021.Carter RG, Feigelman S. The preschool years. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, Shah SS, Tasker RC, Wilson KM, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 24.Marcdante KJ, Kliegman RM. Normal development. In: Marcdante KJ, Kliegman RM, eds. Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019:chap 7
2 НИУ ВШЭ: https://iq.hse.ru/news/177666107.html
3 TASS: https://tass.ru/obschestvo/6810398
4 HSE study “Sociology of Preschool Childhood”: https://iq.hse.ru/news/177668699.html
5 I.Yu. Kulagin. “Child development up to 17 years”