Child Gadget Addiction

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Children play "bricks" on Tuesday (24/7/2018) at the child-friendly integrated community space (RPTRA) at Jakarta’s Komarudin low-cost apartments. Playing conventional games that stimulate hand-eye coordination and creativity helps combat child gadget addiction, which has been on the rise in urban areas.I

Child gadget addiction is at an alarming level. The disorder has been on the rise not only in big cities, but also in small towns.

This daily reported that hospitals in several regions are treating children and adolescents who are addicted to gadgets. For example, the mental health polyclinic at the Koesnadi Regional General Hospital of Bondowoso regency, East Java, is treating 11 school-aged children who are addicted to digital devices.

Children with gadget addiction can play video games on their devices up to three days and two nights without food or sleep. If their parents forbid them to do so, they become angry and hysterical, and may even bang their heads against the wall. Not a few children addicted to gaming consume shabu (crystal meth) so they keep awake to continue playing video games.

In a number of cases, children have become violent towards their friends and families after playing video games. There are also many cases in which adolescents have committed sexual harassment and sexual violence after viewing pornographic content on their devices.

It is not surprising that the World Health Organization (WHO) included gaming disorder among its mental health disorders in the 11th International Classification of Disease (ICD). This means that gaming addiction has emerged as a worldwide problem.

The National Commission for Child Protection has handled 42 cases of child gadget addiction since 2016. The Marsudi Putra Antasena social house in Magelang regency, Central Java, is also treating 28 children from several provinces who have been negatively affected by Internet-connected devices.

The rise in gadget addiction among children and adolescents over the last five years is inseparable from the high Internet penetration in the country. A 2017 survey by the Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers (APJII) revealed that 143.2 million people, or 54.6 percent of the population, used the Internet. Approximately 75.5 percent of Internet users are 13-18 years old, of which 44.1 percent access the Internet on gadgets.

This fact should become a public concern. Internet-connected devices are very useful on the one hand, especially in broadening the horizon of information and knowledge for children. On the other hand, inappropriate use of Internet-connected gadgets can have a negative impact on children.

The negative impacts of Internet-connected gadgets on children should be managed together. Schools, for example, need to teach proper use of Internet-connected gadgets. Similarly, parents should exercise caution when choosing age-appropriate gadgets for their children, limit their usage from an early age and teach them about age-appropriate and useful content. It would also be wise for parents to have access to their children\'s gadgets.

More importantly, parents should provide an example of proper gadget use in the presence of their children. Frankly, many parents are also absorbed in gaming and using social media, to the extent that they neglect their children who are right in front of them.