is Smartphone Dangerous for Children?

Smartphone for children

Recent day, gadget use is dominance for adult. Smartphone, tablet, notebook, and other gadgets are used by our children now. This phenomenon usually found in rich family where the gadget is not an expensive thing for them. Some children are facilitated by their parent because the parent do not want to accompany  their children in certain time. There are parent that want their children to be close with gadget. Those children really want a gadget, and the parents buy a gadget for them.

I think children are really easy to access the applications in their gadget. It does not take time for them to access and master in some applications. In other sides, there are many benefits from gadget to children. Children will be aware and know about the gadget. Vendors made a game to help children in brain development such as like puzzle, words game, and something like that. Children that play gadget or smartphone will always stay at home, this is good for busy parents, if the children are in home, they will be easy having activity without worrying their children. Some parents buy smartphone for their children so that they can monitor their children position. In kidnapping risky district, it can prevent children from kidnapping. But in other side, smartphone or gadget can have negative effects for children. The smartphone can be positive and negative. For the negative effects, it might be instant or later effects.

We have already talked about negative effects or smartphone, from that article we know that smartphone have an extraordinary negative impact for our health, but as we know that children also have a smartphone. Actually they are the victim of parent ignorance. Parent gives their children a smartphone without know the effects of smartphone its self to children. The parent may think that if their children have a smartphone, the children will be aware of technology. That is parents expectation. But, their expectation is totally a mistake, because the negative effect from smartphone to a children is worse than adult. Here are the negative effects of smartphone to children:

Electromagnetic Radiation

It is different between under-five years old children and adult, the children is much more risky from environment danger. We know that every gadget have an electromagnetic exposure that can influence the body. It is not only danger for adult but also children, it is danger for children with high exposure with electromagnetic because the nerves of children are developing. And the electromagnetic radiation can block this development. And the result for this condition is pending cognitive development in children, the children will be hard to have a concentration about something.

Psychomotor Problems

Spending time in front of smartphone will make delay children abilities. One of them is psychomotor ability. Children should explore and develop their psychomotor ability such as drawing, singing, and playing. During these activities, other abilities are developing too. For instance, drawing, children will develop their right brain, playing, it can develop children socialization ability.

Adaptation in Lessons

Application and operating system serve multimedia interaction. Coloring games and animation make children feel comfortable spending their time in front of the smartphone. While school time, children will feel so familiar with smartphone, and they will be difficult to get lessons from school. The school method is like monotone. It is like black and white without animation, so it can make the children feel bored.

Addiction

Although addiction problem tends to adults, parent must stay focus on smartphone addiction for their children. Without parent guidance, the children can be a gadget-holic or smartphone addiction.

Attention Deficit

Smartphone in children will make the children do not aware of around. They just focus on smartphone till they forget about everything. Children with smartphone tend to have a naughty characteristic, resistance.

Growth Problem

If smartphone is used by children in wrong position such as lying down or look down in long time, so it will disturb the physical development directly.

Bad Moral

Children tend to have a bad moral that is caused by online interaction in smartphone, and all of information in Internet is easy to access for children. Internet is an information center in this world, there are many information that not need to know by children. If those informations are known by children, they will have a bad moral.

Based on the explanation about negative effects of smartphone to children above is very dangerous for children. If parent has no active role to control their children to use a smartphone, the children will get the bad impact of those mistake parenting pattern. But, parent do not have to worry about it, there are some guides for parent if they want to give smartphone for their children:

1. Be a digital parent, do not make high technology as a ghost for children. Before buying a smartphone for children, you must be good at it. Invite your children to show the application or game that they love. Before that, you must find the application or game information so that you can filter whether good or not for your children. This moment can be a quality time between parent and children. Online world is like a playground for children. You can be part of children online world. If your children active in social media, but you do not have a social media account, you have to make it soon.
2. Choose based on need. There are many smartphone. According to me, under 13 years old children does not need to be bought a smartphone, low end phone (only call and sms fiture) is enough. Internet connection for children is limited, for chatting without browsing only is better for them. This is the cheapest and safest choice.
3. Use password. Password is available in every smartphone. Ask you children to use a smartphone if their phone is missing, phone number, and data should not be accessed by other people.
4. Use restriction menu. Android or iOS system smartphone have a restriction menu for some application. If it is on, the applications cannot be downloaded, opened or accessed. For iOS, chose setting – general – restriction – enable restrictions. For android, tab market app – settings- content filtering – maturity level – lock or set / change PIN. In this case you must manage restriction menu for browser application or youtube.
5. Block negative content. It is depend on children age, you may choose whether free access or blocked access. You have to check the activity of you children in smartphone or their tablet. For you who want to control the children smartphone, there is an application for parental control. Calling, sms, mms, email, photo, and video can be controlled well. But this moment, I will not explain about that application, you may check it on Google play store or apple store.
6. Save history chat . if the children have been exposed in chatting world, parent must give an attention that children should not talk with stranger. Basically, it is from real world adaptation. Children must be well mannered while chat with their friends. For messenger application such as MSN Live messenger or yahoo messenger, and BBM, there is a chat history. You may choose whether save the chat history or not.
7. Pornography warning. Pornography trigger dopamine hormone in human brain, it will decrease the analysis abilities, attention, and norm. Because of that, sexting (sending vulgar content via smartphone) must be explained to children. But, the parent must give an attention of sex education for their children, because sex education is based on children age.
   

   

   Parent guidance is needed

8. It is better if parent know about the children game, to know what kind of online game that is played by children can prevent all of the  negative impact of that game. You may check whether that game is good or not in game review in internet.
9. Be a friend or a follower in social media, so that you can check your children’s friend on social media. Avoid reprimand or bad comment that make your children embarrassed your children in social media. Ask your children to introduce their friends  to you, otherwise you must introduce your friend too to your children.
10. Be wise in social media, update your status or picture that is in detail and privacy is a risky action. Give children about the dangerous of privacy sharing in social media. Especially for adolescence, remind about the danger of sending a body part picture to other people.
11. Optimize the privacy settings. Learn privacy setting in facebook to choose what things that need to share to public or just for friends. Not only that but also chose account privacy or public in twitter in setting menu.
12. Beware of cyber bullying, cyber bullying such as like sexual abuse or posting a threat is a risky thing in social media. It is better if children know the negative impact of cyber bullying and how to overcome it. If your children as a victim, remind them not to revenge. While this case occurred in chatting, leave chat room immediately and block the person that do cyber bullying from children account. If it is possible, take a screenshot of that chat and report it to police or children protection organization.
13. Control your children with check in location in facebok, foursquare, Koprol, or Path, those application should not be used by children. Explain the risk of kidnapping if many people know where children are.

I conclude that smartphone is not only have a good side, but negative side. We have to be a smart parent before we want to buy a gadget or smartphone for our children. We have to compare whether good to buy a smartphone or not. Then, be a good parent.

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Smartphone Effect Toward Health

This time, technoly is in dominance, we usually called this era as digital era. The development of technology is so fast. Let's focus on commonl technology that we usually use, smartphone. This smartphone is not an expensive stuff now, even a children have it. The coast of this smartphone is about hundret dolar for the cheapest one. It is because the producent have to attract the consumers to buy thier products. The product that usually we found in market are Blackberry OS and Android Os such as Samsung, Oppo, etc , and Apple OS. In this digital era, who do not need a smartphone? Of course, smartphone is like a high tech mechine from our body. Most people feel so proud with thier smartphone, and it will be more proud if that smartphone is in update spesificatoin. Each of smartphone product have aventages and disadventages.

The communication among us is very easy nowadays. Only operate an aplication in smartphone in our hand, we can comunicate with our partners, parents, and everyone around the world. Smartphone is like unseparateable device from our life. We usually use it from morning to night. But, dont you know the negative effects of smartphone? Perhaps we do not know it yet. The question is " Is it harmful for us if we always use our smartphone for times?" Here are some effect that may appear after having a long time in front of smartphone screen. I will divide the negative effects of smartphone into two groups; Physical changes and Psychology changes.

Physical Changes

Computer Vision Syndrome.

Computer Vision Syndrome Ilustration

In medical terminology, the eye problem during computer use called Computer Vision Syndrom / CVS. It has many sign and symptoms because of spend time in front of the screen, not only computer screen but also smarphone screen.  The symptoms are like dry eyes. Normally we blink about 16 to 20 times per minute, but when we look at computer or smarphone screen we just blink about 6 to 8 times per minutes. Slowwer than normal blink. Blinking our eye will wet our eye ball, but if we do not blink well, our eye ball will dry.

This effect is known well by us if we spend long time in front of the smartphone. It is qouted from  CuriousMob, The Vision Council’s 2005 Digital Eye Strain Report, it said that 37% people spend 9 hours in front of the smartphone at least. 7 from 10 people report hat they have eye tense sign and symptoms such as like dry eye, irritation, readness, and continous headache, fatigue, and even hypermetrophy.

So, how to overcome it? we need to limit our time in front of the smartphone, do not use smartphone in bed time, do not use smartphone in long period of time (if it uses perfectly with PC), and rest our neck.

Hearing Problem

Smartphone is not only bad for the eye, but also for ear. We usually use our smartphone and listen to music, if we listen the music with high volume of speaker in long period of time, it  will lead to hearing loss.  But, it is much more danger if we fall asleep while we listen a music with earphone or headset plug on.  So just need to manage our time during earphone or headset plug on, low the volume and turn off a music while we want to sleep. Do not use earphone or headset all day long. Give a rest of our ear to listen normally.

Hearing loss may be caused by high volume from smartphone

Back Bone Problem

While we look down, about 60 degree to check our smartphone, it is like make our head heavier. Because of that, it made our neck underpressure. It is based on a research from Kenneth Hansraj, M.D., Chief of Spine Surgery in New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine. Back bone support will move from right position while we look down for long time, and it leads to pressure in spinal cord. This condition must be so painful, but we have a solution for this condition. We just need to reposition our posture. We have to be upright position as always, the ears is in line with shoulder, and the chest is lifted.

Looking down lead to backbone problem

Amy Cuddy, PhD, the researcher, said that upright posture will stimulate testosterone production, and that hormone will give us a bost of our self confident, even in bad situation. But we should be consistent, never spend our time to look our smartphone down. If we have to, we just put our smartphone in front of our sight without bend our neck.

Aging Process

Aging process is faster

A skin doctor from Beverly Hills, Stuart H. Kaplan, M. D., claimed that many young patients have a Botox medication to erase the wrinkle that is caused by spending time in front of the smartphone. He said that this things is caused by  checking our smartphone in continously, perhaps just check notification or send a chat, it feels like an ordinary life, isn't it? But in period, if we always do that activities, it can be a bad sircumsatances, does not it?

To protect our selves from those bad behavior, we just need to stop spend our time in front of the smartphone, and let our neck relax. Yoga maybe can help us, because yoga can help our neck in relax condition, strenght our shoulder muscles, back, and neck. Beside that, yoga can help circulation in our skin.

Psychology Changes

Lonelyness

let me ask you a question again, what are you doing if you wait someone or in queque standing? Nowadays, people will use thier smartphone. Perhaps we do not realize it, but this habit will make us clumpsy in social life, and continously we may be an antisocial.

Lonelyness

If we usually contact people in online, we may be afraid have a contact with people in real life. So, leave this habit now. Leave our smartphone sometime, and communicate with people around us. Verbal communicaton is like a best way to know each other and socialize with people. Do not try to change verbal comunication with digital conversation.

Addictive

Phoen addiction

The negative impact of smartphone lead to addiction, we always want to non-stop connect 24 hours. This condition  make the smartphone users know about update news, include chatting with other people. Their pleasure is when receive an email or massage.  The researche from Ruthgers University state that to cure smartphone addiction need narcothic-like treatment.

Disturb Sleep Pattern.

Sleep pattern disturbance

Let we think again, while we hear a ring from our smartphone as a notification of email or messeges. What will we do? Of course we feel so curious if we do not find the notifications. This pleasure spend bed time at night, whereas rest is very important for our body to restore the energy and organ reparation after we use it all day long. There are many researches that prove the negative effects if we have bad rest at night. It can be decrease in productivity, accident, and low immune system. So, turn off our smartphone while we want to sleep, this is the most simple action, but the benefits are more.

Decrease in Productivity

Productivity is decrease

None abjures the sophisticated of smartphone nowadays to fulfill our communication needs. But, this device lead to addiction, bother the concentration, and seize bed time. Based on the research from MIT Sloan School of Management, it said that Blackberry users have a negative effects in workplace, such as like unreachable death line because of divided-concentration of smartphone users.

Brain Damage

Brain damage ilustration

Brain can receive the negative effects of smartphone; it is because of the radiation. Although this case is still in controversial, but some researchers found that smartphone radiation leads to brain tumor and insomnia. Spending much time in front of the smartphone is really bad, include nausea and headache.

Insomnia

Insomnia

Computer, laptop, tablet, and smartphone tend to have a blue light; this light can bother the sleeping hormone. So, we need to dim the smartphone light screen for insomnia prevention. And it is better if we put our smartphone away from us during bed time,

Relationship Problem

We usually think that smartphone is like a good stuff for better communication, but according to psychology from University of Bedfordshire, Dr. Emma Short, technology can make us hard to manage our line. The more we have a time in social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, the more time we spend without a friend, family, and college. So, we need to limit our time for social media, we have to turn off our smartphone during dinner with our family, gathering with friends, it is also a simple action, but it can keep our relationship with people we love.

Relationship problems

In summary, smartphone is not only have a bad effects, but it has many positive side. We just need to know the negative effects and we should prevent it before it threats our health. For negative effects, those effects are very bad for our life. It can harm our lifes, especially for active smartphone users.  And now, we should manage our time for spending time in front of the smartphone.

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Medical Treatment from West to East

Prevention is The Best Cure

East medical treatment is much more complicated to understand. We may say that the east medical treatment is very different from every country. For instance, acupuncture, massage, shiatsu (from Japan), and moxibustion (traditional medication from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia). We may think that the traditional medication is like God's help, it is because of no medication explanation yet.

We believe that west medication is much more easy to understand, it is because the west medical treatment is talking about the disease in detail (pathology). It can explain the disease cause and process, so that the cure can be reach fast. In fact, west and east medical treatment is different in many things. West medical treatment usually comprehensive diagnosis method such as like Rontgen, or blood analysis, it will make us feel so sure about it.

In east medical treatment is like an ancient way to understand the process of the disease. It is like no philosophy basis and difficult to understand. But let we think, which is the best treatment? I am sure the east medication is the best medication. But the process of east medication cannot be explained scientifically.

Acupuncture

The purpose of east medication is to prevent the disease, it means that keep the human body in optimum function before get sick. In clinic usually just cure the problem without prevent the disease.

Now we are talking about the best therapy or medication, the best way is to cure the disease and prevent all of potential disease that may attack us. In short, there are three best medication for us, it 'three in one'. Those are Food (high protein and low carbo diet; Exercises ( to burn fat and build the muscle), and the last one is meditation. With all of these medication, I believe that it can restore the health for risky people with bad life style. It is not only for physical problems, but also for mental problems.

The secret why those ' three in one' medication can cure the disease well is hormone condition. Its hormone is happiness hormone. In every human's brain, the morphine like hormone is released. Beside of restore the mood circumstances, this hormone has a best work in pharmacotherapy such as like an anti-aging and self-recovery. If this happiness hormone is released in right dose, the effects are not only in brain, but also whole body. This hormone is already known for many years, people believed that its effects is only for analgesic or painkiller, nothing special with this hormone. The recent experiment shows that this hormone has a potential and amazing effects.

If somebody is getting mad, the brain will release a hormone called noradrenaline, this is a toxic hormone. This hormone is much more toxic than a snake poisons. And of course this hormone is only released in small amount in brain. But if someone always getting mad and under pressure continuously, this hormone will take control, the result is a disease will get, then the aging process will occur fast, and even death. I assumed that noradrenaline has an important role in every disease.

Noradrenaline

In other side, there is a hormone called beta-endorphin, this is the most important happiness hormone. This hormone has a relation with noradrenaline hormone. Inside the brain, if toxic noradrenaline is released, beta-endorphin hormone will block it. For instance, if somebody does not like something, but he or she assume and overcome it with positive and affirmative ways, the brain will release useful hormone for body. Otherwise, if someone is so mad, wanted a revenge, and sad, the hormone that is released is toxic substances. If we face all of things in positive ways and keep looking forward, the health will be okay and our life will be free of diseases. Beside that, if we experience painful experiences and unhappy feeling, resistance reaction will occur and the result is noradrenaline will take control. Despite if we learn to be patient in overcome the hardest step of life, the happiness hormone will flow smooth.

Beta Endorphin

In one condition a smoker think, "this is bad for my life," and smoke his or her cigarettes in uncomfortable feeling, bad things will occur twice. Then if a smoker smokes his or her cigarettes and think, "Ah... this is really good!" happiness hormone will flow and negative effects of cigarettes will decrease.

When we have delicious foods in front of us, we feel comfortable such as like after exercise, study, and work. We feel so happy if we can help people or make a world to be a better place. In summary, our health is depend on our mind set. Scientifically it had been proofed that our mind set will take us to be healthy or sick.

Happiness Hormone Prevent Diseases.

Happiness hormone has amazing function, beta-endorphin is the perfect example, it can stimulate immune system. Altough the infection disease from bacteria or virus almost can not be attacked by positive thinking directly, but it can stimulate the immune system, so the positive thinking can be so useful for against infection disease such as AIDS.

Among AIDS patients, they perhaps have a contact with AIDS patients before, but they have different result, there are infected and uninfected by HIV. Among AIDS patients, there are getting worse condition fast, despair to find help everywhere, and they do not make it. But there are AIDS patients that is still okay for years because of enthusiasm and have a good meditation program. In this case, we can conclude that immune system can be stimulated by happiness hormone.

Not all of people can be infected by HIV, but we have potential to have a lifestyle disease, such as heart disease. well, toward this kind of disease, happiness hormone has enormous effects.

We live in stressful life, and if we feel so stress, the toxic hormone will be released (we have already talked about it). If this hormone is released in right dose, it does not matter, even it is useful for the body, but if it is over dose, it can constrict the blood vessel in the heart.

Blood vessel constriction will be hypertension, and it is easy to block the blood flow. If the big vein in brain is blocked, it will lead to stroke. Capillary blood vessel in brain leads to dementia. Happiness hormone helps recover blood vessel into normal condition, and keep the blood flow flows smoothly without obstacles. Most of lifestyle disease causes atherosclerosis or a plaque in the blood vessels wall, so the happiness hormone can avoid this disease.

Nowadays, oxygen active and its effects to health are trending topic. There are two kinds of this dangerous molecule:

1. Oxygen active production during oxygen metabolism from oxygen consumption.
2. Atmosphere oxygen active.

In the body, oxygen active lead to oxidation, aging process, and gen mutation. Because of oxygen active is always in the human body, if we have an activity that use so much energy, the body will produce a substance that neutralized toxic oxygen. The most important substance is SOD (Superoxide Dismutase Enzyme) that is produced in cells. If the SOD is produced in right dose, active oxygen will not enough to make problems. In fact, brain development stopped when we reach 25 year old, so the body is hard to produce "SOD former substance". Then, oxygen active or free radical is free, it will lead to chronic disease and accelerate aging process. Beside that, acid substances will increase if noradrenaline is distributed. so, if we want to keep our brain young , it is important to keep control the toxic substances in our body.

Recent research prof that if brain cells is still young, oxygen active effects is low. It is because of happiness hormone keep the Brain cells young, we actually can defeat the biggest rivals of health such as aging and diseases through positive thinking and it will lead to happiness hormone continuously.

Beside that, happiness hormone have benefits in memorizing, enthusiasm, coping, and our creativity. Some drugs have a nature morphine in their ingredients. In this kind of morphine, it may lead to addiction; but no addiction in happiness hormone and we must not worry about it. Bad effect of narcotics is already known. To get happiness we do not need to approach the risky steps because our God had already given us happiness hormone, in one condition we have to live like happy, healthy, long live, and free from disease. In summary, happiness hormone is like a gift from the creator for us.

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