Summer vacation, let's 'break' your children away from phones and TV!
(Baonghean.vn) - During the summer vacation, many families are using the method of keeping their children at home with phones, iPads, and TVs. It can cause eye damage, headaches, scoliosis, and even depression if children are too addicted to these devices. So, try to get your children away from phones and TVs in many ways.
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| The number of children addicted to games and phones is increasing. Photo: Internet |
Warning about children addicted to games and phones
At the Department of Emergency Resuscitation and Anti-Poisoning, Nghe An Psychiatric Hospital, there are currently a number of patients addicted to games and phones who are being actively treated. Most of these patients are male and are in their teens.
TMH (13 years old, Vinh city) is such a patient. Addicted to games, when H was hospitalized, his health was very poor: dry, red eyes; unable to eat or sleep, body weakness; often had headaches and certain psychological disorders due to lack of communication, anger and frustration for no reason...
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| TMH is being treated at Nghe An Mental Hospital. Photo: Thanh Chung |
"At first, my parents saw me looking haggard, losing weight, and neglecting my studies, but they didn't know why. Once, they saw me wearing gym clothes and coming home from outside at 5:30 a.m., and when they asked, I said I was going to exercise. Then one day, my father went to my room in the middle of the night and didn't see me, so they became suspicious. Then, after monitoring me, they found out that I often watched my parents sleep, sneaked out to play games at the cafe, and only came back close to dawn. My parents forbade me from doing so, but I still found ways to play games... Recently, I saw something unusual about me, so I took him to the hospital."
Also being treated at the Department of Emergency Resuscitation and Anti-Poison, HVT (16 years old, Hung Nguyen district) showed different symptoms. T always cowered, panicked, and was afraid when people approached. Doctors said: HVT was addicted to sex movies on his phone.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Chau - Head of the Department of Emergency Resuscitation and Anti-Poison said: There are also younger children who have been treated at the hospital. Many children are influenced by the personalities of the characters in the game, so they have abnormal behaviors such as shouting, punching, and speaking in words in the game. Some children even try their hand at extremely dangerous movements and think that they are "heroes" who can "revive".
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| Many children addicted to games and phones need active treatment. Photo: Thanh Chung |
According to Dr. Chau, the number of children with mental illness due to games and phone addiction who come to the hospital for examination and treatment each year is about a few dozen. However, these numbers do not fully reflect the reality as many families still hide their children's illness or refer them to higher-level hospitals for examination and treatment.
Treating children addicted to games and phones is very difficult, because in addition to behavioral disorders, there are also habits. Treatment requires a combination of medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychology. Another important thing is the cooperation of parents and the willpower of the children.
Children should practice sports.
From a medical perspective, children's addiction to games, excessive use of smartphones and social networks causes many health problems, both physical and mental. Many injuries are difficult to recover from, affecting their whole lives.
The damages include: Permanent damage or difficult to treat eye-related diseases, including eye twitching, itching and redness, difficulty focusing on something, tired or blurred eyes; neck pain, cervical spondylosis, cervical muscle spasm syndrome, increased rate of hunchback, scoliosis; damage to the thumb joint; increased risk of infection due to body weakness and virus infection on phones and computers; mobile phone radiation can reduce sperm count causing infertility in men; sleep disorders, prolonged headaches, depression...
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| Doctor Nguyen Thi Minh Chau warns: During the summer vacation, many families are borrowing phones and TVs to keep an eye on their children. Photo: Thanh Chung |
Now that it is summer vacation time, many families are creating a dangerous habit for their children, which is to "rely" on phones, iPads, and TVs to comfort and take care of their children every day, not knowing that children can face dangers in the online environment when games and videos containing violent and sexual elements are rampant.
In addition, many families have been “overcoming” this by borrowing extra classes to “look after their children” even though they know it is ineffective. The important thing is that parents must find ways to let their children participate in summer activities organized by the youth union, participate in skills classes organized by units, participate in military semesters or summer retreats... And the most effective is to participate in practicing physical education and sports to create a new passion for children.
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| Exercising will help children develop physically and mentally more fully. Photo: Sy Hieu |