‘Introduce children to hobbies, not phones’

A child with a phone

 A registered member of the Ghana Psychology Association (GPA), Dr May Wulff-Caesar, has advised parents to be interest­ed in technology to enable them have more control over the devices of their children.

She said learning about tech­nology could also help parents to monitor activities of their children on the phone.

She said this last week during a virtual seminar organised by the Mental Health Authority (MHA) on the topic, ‘conquer­ing phone addiction: sharing real life experience.’

“As parents, we need to introduce hobbies to our chil­dren which will en­able them get off the screens in addition to extra curriculum ac­tivities that will keep them busy and away from the devices,” she said.

Dr Wulff-Caesar said studies have proven that ex­cessive use of cell phones could lead to anxiety and depression where persons addicted to their smartphones were more likely to experience mental health issues such as chronic stress and low emotional stability.

She said it would be beneficial for parents to set rules and regu­lations as well as some activities that would take the attention of children off the phone.

“Studies have proven that exces­sive use of cell phones could lead to anxiety and depression where persons addicted to their smart­phones were more likely to experi­ence mental health issues such as chronic stress and low emotional stability,” she added.

Some negative effects of phone addiction, Dr Wulff-Caesar said were exposure to radiation, chang­es in cognitive ability, problems with social or emotional skills, problems sleeping and mental laziness.

The Deputy Director, Health Pro­motion, MHA, Dr Amankwa Arthur, said using phones for research purposes and assignments had in­creased children’s addiction, add­ing that “it is toxic and worrying.”

According to Dr Arthur, poor fam­ily relationship and boredom were some of the contributory factors to the menace, adding that children find solace with the phone rather than having a quality time with the family.

A Clinical Psychologist and Lec­turer at the University of Ghana, Dr Seth Mawusi Asafo, said al­though the contributory factors were enormous, it was necessary to build a broad range of activi­ties for children and other persons affected to manage boredom to prevent the attitude of being on the screens very often.

In order to get the children off the addiction, Dr Asafo urged par­ents to be moderate and patient with children when dealing with the challenge.

 By Spectator Reporter