If for many years parents resorted to the pacifier to calm their children in times of crying, today it is common to find parents who offer cell phone or tablet to reassure children
We know that early access to screens has been increasingly frequent in. We observed children paralyzed in front of a screen, as if nothing more around it existed. The glazed look, the immovable body, the absence of response and the loss of the notion of time are worrying effects on the life of a formation.
Early access to screens and challenges in development
A survey of the Internet Management Committee in Brazil (CGI.br), through the ICT Kids Online Brazil 2022 survey, shows that 93% of children and adolescents between 9 and 17 years in the country are users of. From this group, 23% had their first internet access before the age of 6, a proportion that has doubled since 2015. These data show the precocity with which screens became part of the daily life of Brazilian children, surpassing the recommendations of organizations such as the Brazilian Pediatric Society, which advises the use of screens for children under 2 years.
But then, when did we accept that a screen could replace the lap, conversation or play, keeping the child silent, absorbed and away from real life? If for many years parents resorted to calming their children in times of crying and suffering, today we often find parents who offer cell phone or tablet to reassure the child in situations of suffering, frustration or boredom. That said, the problem is not in the existence of the object, but in its use.
The pacifier, used for a certain time, was withdrawn and the child needed to develop emotional resources, with the support of parents, to deal with the absence of their “soothing”. The same Brazilian Pediatric Society published, in 2017, a guideline about the use of the pacifier, warning about pros and cons and guiding its use in babies in the breastfeeding phase. As advantageous points, the soothing effect, the satisfaction of the need for natural suction and, in premature, stimulus to the transition of oral feeding.
The emotional and cognitive impact of the “digital pacifier”
Why do many parents avoid offering pacifiers to their children, knowing the damage that this object can cause, but deliberately allow the use of something (the screen) potentially more harmful and harmful? We are facing the so -called “digital pacifier”, an expression I use to illustrate the phenomenon of “Cala Boca”, in which not only teeth and speech are harmed, but an entire network of formation of the developing human being. In the neurological and cognitive field, we identify losses in concentration, focus, ability to abstract and imagination, creativity, among others. In the emotional realm, the impacts are deep: they impair social relationships, the quality of bonds, interaction with the real world, self -regulation and the ability to manage their own emotions.
The child is encapsulated in the hypnotic effect that the screen causes, and the world around it ceases to exist. Thus, what should be just an eventual resource becomes a daily habit. At this point, the discussion is no longer on the screens itself and becomes the responsibility of adults. No child is born with a screen in his hands; She learns to ask after the first offer and experience with the soothing effect, which is born of the adult’s need to silence, gain time and control the emotions – own and the child. The risk is that by replacing human comfort in times of crying and stress with a digital resource, parents allow childhood and all child development to be crossed by pixels and not by human contact.
The role of adults and alternatives for healthy development
It is not about blaming parents, nor to demonize technology, after all, adults also need screens for numerous everyday tasks. Even adults also face the same digital seduction and spend part of their time on cell phones or computers. And if a child learns much more by example than by speech, the essential question is: to what extent do we parents resist digital magnetism?
As possible ways, it is essential to think and create alternatives to ensure the space of play, family dialogue and value the adult as a central figure in conducting the situation. It’s time to reverse! It is not the child who should be mesmerized by the screen, but the adult who needs to be seduced by the child’s development and accompany him responsibly.
*By Dr. Marisa Bruno Dias Perestrelo – CRP 06-54158
Psychologist
