Digital Dementia is a Thing Now and Your Kids Might be Suffering from It
When you think about dementia, you say it’s a mental disorder among old people; something that the grandpa has. Thanks to all things digital, we now have a thing called Digital Dementia and kids as young as 10 are suffering from it.
According to Alzheimers.net, “Digital Dementia”, is a term coined by top German neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer in his 2012 book of the same name, used to describe how overuse of digital technology is resulting in the breakdown of cognitive abilities in a way that is more commonly seen in people who have suffered a head injury or psychiatric illness.
What most people used to memorize like phone numbers, meeting schedules and addresses, we now relay on our gadgets to do that. No wonder why our kids gave become forgetful and absent-minded most of the time because they are always toying with their smartphones, tabs and laptops and don’t listen to anything with full attention. This Digital Dementia is messing with their brain performance and is hampering their cognition.
It’s Even Worse Among Kids and Teens
We often complaint of being a little lost sometimes but take one good look at the young people and you wonder that you’re still a lot better than them when it comes to focus and memory. Ask what they had for breakfast and they’d have this blank expression on their face. Some might even reach out for their smartphone to open up Instagram to see the picture of their breakfast uploaded.
Overusing these smartphones, kids are relying heavily on the left side of their brain and that’s why the right side of their brain becomes less used and under-developed. This side is related to the concentration and under-development of the right side of the brain calls for an early onset of dementia.
Too much screen time also messes with the kids’ memory-making skills. Since everything is so fast and their attention spans are so little, they don’t have the time or desire to focus on stuff. They want to snap a beautiful sight rather than just stop and let the beauty seep in.
Can Digital Dementia be Reversed?
If you signs of Digital Dementia in your kids and teens, it’s high time you take some steps before it starts affecting their quality of life. Here are a few things you should try with your kids:
Use up Brain
Make them memorize all important phone numbers and encourage them to use up their brain instead of simply adding a note on their smartphones. Instead of setting reminders on their phones, challenge them to remember them instead. You can even have small rapid-answer questions with your kids sometimes just to keep their brain working up.
Screen Time Control
These days screen time control has become a necessary parental control. You need to make sure they only their phones moderately. And for that you need to get a parental control app like FamilyTime. With FamilyTime you can lock their phones for specific hours like during bed time, etc.
Learn New Language
Learning a new language is always fun and it can help your kids as they grow up. So every summer, you can enroll them in a language course. This will help in their brain development and there is nothing fancier than the fact that your child can speak 4 languages fluently!
Put a Stop on Gaming Addiction
Now this continuous gaming on their mobile phones is not doing their eye-sight and brain any good and you need to seriously think about putting a stop on that. Mobile gaming can be especially annoying when they have their exams or have to work on an important assignment because kids can’t resist the urge to play up another level, pass another stage and make more score. So if your kids won’t come for dinner because they’re close to make a high score or can’t concentrate on their homework, it’s time you block the game and such apps. FamilyTime’s App Blocker will help you do that. Find out how:
Get Them Connected to the Reality
Starting from today, put in more effort to get your kids off their mobile device and reconnect with the reality. Spend more time with you, exchange stories with each other and have more Family Time. Make a habit to have meal time gadget-free times and whoever touches their gadgets first will do the dishes! Develop, share and cherish memories with your kids and save them from this thing called Digital Dementia while it’s not too late!
