How Gadgets Are Turning Your Children into Zombies

credit: photo by Franco Folini on Flickr

It's that time of year again: time for kids to spend too much time on their phones, tablets, and other electronic devices and not enough time with their parents.

And it's a problem that needs urgent attention, child psychologist Juliet Gikunda tells the Daily Mail in Kenya.

"It is dangerous when we give our children too much freedom to use our gadgets and go online but we do not monitor their activities hence exposing them to safety issues," she says.

A study published last month by the Pew Research Center found that about 38% of teenagers in the US acknowledge that they spend too much time on their smartphones and social media platforms.

And it's a problem in Kenya, too.

"We have noted that children are spending too much time on screens, they are becoming socially awkward, withdrawn, and want to have their'me time' with their gadgets, and when you invade their privacy, they become aggressive," Gikunda says.

"If there was a safe space at home where they could pour out their feelings and be listened to, they would not be all over social media, they would not be all over the internet seeking validation and cyberbullied through negative comments on their social media posts," she adds.

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