Inspire self-development: how to make watching television safe for children

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It is difficult to imagine the modern world and the growth of our children without gadgets and television. And each channel fights for the attention of its viewers, sometimes causing significant harm to children. In order to limit the influence of content on a child, modern streaming services create separate children’s profiles that help parents filter content. For example, the “Kyivstar TV” application has a functionality — Kids Profile. Thanks to this, children up to 8 years old will be able to watch specially adapted content: cartoons, animated series, educational or educational programs. Psychologist and expert in parent-child relations Alina Fomina and head of the psychological service of private innovative schools Global Kids, psychologist and certified ART and fairy-tale therapist Iryna Shkraba told how to make watching TV safe and useful for the child. What parents who allow their children to watch TV should remember. Restrictions and rules are very useful for a child, says psychologist and expert on parent-child relations Alina Fomina. Those children whose lives have been instilled with rules since early childhood have an easier time adapting to discipline and adulthood. If the child was not restricted at all, then in order to explain the new way of life in middle or older age, it will be necessary to make more efforts. Adults responsible for the child can set the rules, but make them transparent and understandable. It is good if they relate to things familiar to the child, for example, the TV. Experts of the World Health Organization recommend completely limiting TV viewing for children under one year of age. Up to two years old – watch TV for about an hour, and from three to four years old – no more than two hours a day. However, parents should monitor the child, adjust the viewing time depending on his needs and do not forget about breaks, at least every 20 minutes, emphasizes Alina Fomina. “If a child’s anxiety increases due to cartoons or TV shows, he becomes more prone to aggression or, for example, uncontrolled food consumption, then the time spent watching TV should be reduced,” says the expert. According to her, parents should remember that some scenes can have a traumatic effect or simply frighten, something a child may simply not understand or falsely romanticize. Harmful for children can be films that broadcast: violence; sexual behavior; eating disorders; pornography; romanticizing smoking, alcohol or drug use. At the same time, it is worth giving preference to prosocial materials: family films or cartoons, stories about the community of people or animals, help. It develops empathy, teaches children to empathize and sympathize. You should involve the child in viewing educational content, you can search for TV programs according to the interests of the child. For example, thanks to the video, you can talk about complex events in the history of Ukraine or encourage a more detailed study of science and art. The “Education” section of Kyivstar TV for children contains educational content: school curriculum, drawing lessons, foreign language lessons for children, sports exercises and even “NUMO” online kindergarten. 8 years old is the threshold of becoming, when a child can behave like a child. in a childish way, that’s how to become a teenager or a teenager, says Alina Fomina. So from this age, you can gradually allow the child to watch movies and cartoons about relationships between schoolchildren of the same age, between parents and children. Ad viewing should be tracked separately. Many advertising messages are deliberately aimed at an audience of 8-12 years old and can lead children to want certain goods or services, psychologists say. Bright pictures and music contribute to this, and the child’s psyche is not yet formed enough to distinguish truth from fiction. So, so that the child does not have obsessive desires, it is better to distract him, for example, by talking or taking breaks in viewing just in time for advertising. “Children look for outside information when they don’t find answers in the family. If it’s customary to communicate, trusting relationships are built, then she becomes less interested in what is shown in advertising or on TV in general,” says Iryna Shkraba. How to organize a viewing so as not to injure the child If possible, parents should watch the film or program before the child sees it. At the same time, you should pay attention not only to the trailer or description, but to the entire product in general. At the same time, it is better to implement the tradition of joint viewings. Then watching TV will not only be “glued” to the screen, but will also provide an opportunity to discuss points that bother the child or may be unclear. Even just the fact that the parents are nearby will create a comfortable environment for the child. “The world in general is not quite adapted for children of middle and high school age. Just as there are clothes for very children, or for adults, so in many areas there may not be adapted. So children can feel insecure. An authoritative, but not authoritarian adult, they will be able to help,” says Alina Fomina. If the child watches the video by himself, it is useful to ask what he remembered, was interesting, and what, on the contrary, seemed incomprehensible, uninteresting. “If the child avoids answering questions, then the relationship as such should be reviewed. When the child is used to parents taking an interest in his leisure time, then this will not be a surprise. If the parents have never done this and suddenly want answers, then yes, then the child will avoid answers, because it is very strange for her,” says Iryna Shkraba. She adds that despite all the busyness, adults should remember that a child can be raised only once, and childhood is fleeting and unique. So watching or discussing movies or cartoons together can bring you closer, relax, and create memories of time spent together. You should always watch the child. For some, due to other hobbies, friends and girlfriends, it is simply not interesting to watch TV for a long time, so in this case the restriction may not be strict. If the child has no other hobbies, and watching videos takes up all the time and interferes with learning, then the restrictions should be set more strictly. The best restriction for a child can be a TV that is located in a common room. Then it is easier for adults to keep track of what the child is watching, and it can also teach them to agree, in particular, about watching movies or cartoons. Rules should be transparent and consistent. If they already exist, they should act constantly and not depend on parental mood or employment. “If one day, without explanation, a child watches TV for more than three hours so as not to disturb the parents, and the next day there is a time limit again, the child should not understand this. In this case, the parents are inconsistent in their decisions,” says Alina Fomina. It is worth remembering why certain rules are established, Iryna Shkraba notes. In particular, it is worth limiting viewing in order to form a sense of time in the child. “At first, the child will not understand how much 10 or 30 minutes is, but over time he will understand when the time for gadgets and TV is running out, he will learn to allocate his time. But for this the limitation must be permanent and stable. We will form a quality habit of using our time rationally,” – says the expert. How to explain TV viewing restrictions to a child. The younger the child, the stricter the restrictions may be. For example, children of 6-7 years old do not need to explain for a long time why they should not watch films that do not correspond to their age. You can limit yourself to one sentence: “This content can harm you, scare you.” It is not necessary to get into long arguments, be firm enough and speak from the position of an adult. At the same time, speak calmly, do not shout and do not get hysterical, advises Alina Fomina. “The golden mean is to be a friend or girlfriend to a child, but remain an authoritative adult,” says Alina Fomina. Teenagers should be talked to as adults, explain the reasons for the ban, talk about their feelings, that the parents want the child to be calm, and offer programs that offer not only entertainment, but also development. The function of “parental control” or “child profile” in the TV is good, but the main controller of their children is the parents. The greatest part of the responsibility lies with the parents, therefore any services can only be assistants in education, and not completely replace it, psychologists summarize. “Kyivstar TV” application is a platform for watching television, movies and series. It contains more than 300 TV channels and a video library of 20,000 movies, series and TV programs. You can view content from various devices: smartphone, laptop, tablet, Smart TV and set-top box. The service is available to subscribers of all mobile operators. And in order to help parents monitor children’s behavior and limit them from harmful or sensitive content, the developers of the application created a special Kids Profile. The profile is available on mobile devices and tablets with IOS and Android operating systems, as well as WEB and SMART TV and Android TV. You can download the application on Play Market and APP store. With the promo code KIDSPRAVDA, you can get access to the most loaded “Premium HD” package for 7 days, as well as test the Kids Profile function.

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