Remember going to the park and playing with other kids when you were younger? Yeah, there’s an app for that now.
Just Kidding!
But am I? So much of our physical activity has been replaced by digital activity already that the phrase above sounded more like a threat rather than a satirical comment or a harmless joke.
It may not remain a joke in the few years to come, but we cannot let this happen to ourselves. We cannot give up our physical mobility in exchange for a false sense of digital competitiveness or desirability.
The Glamour of Digital Life
It is the same as many would argue that the world of glamour only looks glamourous to us from a distance because we never get close enough to take a peek at all the dark and twisted secrets it hides. All the pain and struggles and the mirage of perfection is not at all up-close what it seems from afar.
I would argue the same for our little online world of social freaks who appear to be living perfection, achieving mastery over various talents, and looking flawless all around the clock. It is a lens.
The lens through which we view the digital world is rose tainted and we better take that lens off before it tampers our sight permanently.
From Physical Sports to Virtual Reality
Right now we have physical games and activities, Olympics and sports competitions, and don’t get me wrong-while it might be great for the differently-abled people to experience a virtual reality in which they can modify their body parts and physical abilities before playing any game-it is also going to prove highly pernicious for infants and tweens who refuse to go out to play physically but rather insist on remaining on the couch all day running around in a virtual reality simulation.
The bodies of such children will become not only fragile but feeble and unable to function over extended periods.
VR World Kids
The weaning of a human body is parallel to its biophysical functions declining and the same would happen to the VR world kids if they completely abandon all physical activity, except their biophysical functions would never have piqued in the first place due to no physical activity or social interaction.
Parents can prevent this from becoming the future of their children by nurturing their child in a way that their life is balanced between physical, digital, and virtual activities.
How to Tackle this Problem
For example, if a child wants to spend some time gaming, they are obliged to spend the same amount of time on homework, or gardening with their parents.
Parents must set these limits and minimize the usage of digital tools such that the child remains grounded in and connected to the real world throughout most of their day.
Inculcating healthy behaviors in children does not have to be a challenge unless parents themselves make it so. Infants and tweens are the easiest to discipline and bring into better behavioral patterns.
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions
Nowadays, it has become even easier to keep an eye on children’s digital activity and make sure they do not come across anything online that you do not want them to know about with child control
Parents can not only monitor their children’s digital activity but also block certain applications, features, and advertisements on their behalf, in addition to being able to see who their child contacts, chat monitoring, location tracking, screen time limits, and whatnot. All with the help of a Android parental monitoring app. These parental control apps can be downloaded from App Store or Play Store.