Part 1: Real-life cases resonate
Xiao Ming (not his real name) is a lively and active eight-year-old boy. On his birthday last year, his parents gave him the latest children's smart watch, which was originally intended to facilitate contact and positioning. At first, Xiao Ming couldn't put down the watch, and every day he excitedly showed his classmates its various functions: taking photos, making video calls, and even playing mini-games.
However, over time, the problem gradually became apparent. Xiao Ming became addicted to games and short videos on his watch, and the first thing he did after school was to turn on his watch and immerse himself in the virtual world. His parents found that Xiao Ming's eyesight deteriorated rapidly and he needed to replace his glasses with new ones in just half a year. What worries them even more is that Xiao Ming has become reluctant to play with his friends, and even during family gatherings, he always looks down at the watch screen.
Xiao Ming's parents realized the seriousness of the problem and decided to take action. They first limited the amount of time Xiao Ming could use the watch, and he could only use it for half an hour a day after completing his homework. At the same time, they also began to spend more time with Xiao Ming, taking him to outdoor activities and encouraging him to interact with his peers. After a period of adjustment, Xiao Ming's condition has improved, he has regained the joy of playing with his friends, and his eyesight has been controlled.
This real-life case reflects the confusion and challenges that many families encounter when using children's smartwatches. While smartwatches bring convenience and fun, overuse can also have a negative impact on a child's health and social skills. Through reasonable use and correct guidance from parents, children can truly benefit from the convenience brought by technology.
Part II: Psychological and Social Effects
Xiao Ming's story is not unique. Many parents find that although children's smart watches bring convenience, they also have a great impact on their children's psychological and social skills. Psychologists point out that excessive use of smartwatches can lead to distraction in children and even affect their emotional management and social skills.
For example, after using a smartwatch, Xiao Ming became reluctant to interact with his peers and preferred to immerse himself in the virtual world alone. This phenomenon is known in psychology as "social withdrawal", when the child gradually loses interest and ability to communicate face-to-face with others. In the long run, children may become withdrawn and even socially phobic.
In addition, although the games and short video content on the smart watch can bring short-term happiness, it is also easy for children to become dependent. Psychologists note that this dependence can weaken a child's self-control and make it difficult for them to focus on learning and other beneficial activities. More seriously, excessive use of smartwatches can also lead to mood swings in children, manifested as irritability, anxiety, etc.
In order to help children use smartwatches healthily, parents can take some effective measures. First and foremost, parents should set a good example by reducing the amount of time they spend using electronic devices in front of their children. Secondly, you can help your child develop good usage habits by setting usage time and content limits. For example, you can only use your smartwatch every day after you finish your homework, and you can only use educational apps.
In addition, parents can also help their children develop a healthy lifestyle by increasing parent-child interaction time and encouraging their children to participate in outdoor and social activities. Psychologists suggest that parents can take their children to participate in sports, read books or do crafts together, which can not only strengthen the parent-child relationship, but also help children develop multiple interests and abilities.
Through these methods, parents can effectively guide their children to use smart watches healthily, avoid over-dependence, and promote the healthy development of their mental and social skills. I hope that every child can grow up happily with the help of technology.
Part 3: Parents' Confusion and Coping
In Xiao Ming's story, we see the confusion and challenges of parents. To get to know more about how parents are really feeling, we interviewed several parents to hear their voices.
Ms. Liu is a mother in Shanghai, and her son Xiaojie (not her real name) is in the third grade of primary school this year. Ms. Liu told us that she initially bought Xiaojie a smartwatch for easy contact and positioning, but soon found that Xiaojie began to indulge in games and short videos on the watch. "The first thing he does when he comes home from school every day is to turn on his watch, play games or watch videos, and he doesn't want to do his homework or go out to play at all." Ms. Liu said helplessly.
In order to help Xiaojie get rid of her dependence on smart watches, Ms. Liu has taken some measures. First of all, she strictly limited the time Xiaojie could use the watch, and he could only use it for half an hour a day after completing his homework. Secondly, she began to accompany Xiaojie more and take him to various outdoor activities, such as cycling, playing football, etc. Through these methods, Xiaojie gradually reduced his dependence on his watch and regained the joy of playing with his friends.
Ms. Meng, a third-grade homeroom teacher in Beijing, had a similar problem. She found that many of the children in her class were using smartwatches, and some even had social barriers because of the social features on the watches. "If most of the children in a class are using the same brand of smart watches, the children who use different brands are prone to form a certain social barrier with them, and they may be isolated over time." Ms. Meng said.
In order to deal with this problem, Ms. Meng advises parents to pay attention to whether their social functions will negatively affect their children's social interaction when choosing a smartwatch. She also advises parents to communicate with their children more to understand their feelings and needs when using smartwatches, and help them use these devices correctly.
Through the sharing of these parents, we can see that reasonable control of when and how children use smart watches is the key to helping them get rid of dependence and grow up healthily. Parents can guide their children to use the smartwatch correctly and avoid over-dependence by setting the time of use, choosing the right app, and increasing the time for parent-child interaction. I hope that every family can find a way that suits them, so that children can grow up happily with the help of technology.
Part IV: Corporate Responsibility and Market Regulation
In the stories of Xiao Ming and other children, we see the convenience and problems that children's smart watches bring. As parents, we hope that companies can take on more social responsibility when designing and promoting these products.
Professor Liu Peng, an expert at the School of Public Administration of Chinese University, believes that the gradual "mobile phoneization" of children's smart watches is a strategy for enterprises to improve product competitiveness, but enterprises should not lose the bottom line for the sake of competition. Professor Liu pointed out that children's smart watches are not as good as possible with more functions, but the best is the best. Enterprises shall conscientiously put models for the protection of minors online in place on all types of terminals, establish effective systems to prevent addiction, prudently add additional functions, implement strict application norms, and strengthen information security protections.
In addition, market regulation also needs to keep up in time. Ms. Zhou from Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, suggested that the relevant departments should further strengthen the review and supervision of the industry, continuously improve the system according to the new situation, and build a good market competition order. For example, industry standards can add requirements that products must not set up brand barriers to add friends, so as to ensure that users of different brands of watches can also communicate normally, so as to avoid children being isolated because of using different brands of watches.
In order to protect the healthy growth of children, the state has also issued some relevant standards and guidelines. The national standard "Children's Watch" released in 2022 puts forward requirements for static positioning, calling, electromagnetic radiation, information security, battery safety, charging safety, and wearing safety temperature of children's smart watches. The Guidelines for the Protection of Personal Information and Rights and Interests of Children's Smart Watches, which came into effect in March this year, proposes that children's watch manufacturers need to set up sufficient functions in the guardian control app to ensure that guardians can properly control the specific operations of children's smart watches, such as dating functions, in-app payments, content sending and other operations.
Through these measures, we hope that businesses and regulators can work together to ensure that children's smartwatches provide convenience while also protecting children's health and safety. As parents, we also need to be actively involved in this process, choosing the right products for our children and guiding them correctly. Only in this way can children grow up healthy and happy with the help of technology.