From Gaming to Social Media, Which is the Greatest Threat?

We have all heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I present to you a cheeky take, Mymko’s Hierarchy of Screens. Except instead of nourishment being the base, it’s oxygen remaining for our children’s brain development. Think of it as climbing Mount Everest. Sure you would love for your child to climb Mount Everest. But do you really want them climbing it at 10 years old? The only difference here, is there is an expressway escalator beelining your child straight to the top to take that much desired selfie for all the world to see. Only problem is, so is everyone else. All the time. Let’s go back to the beginning.

At the bottom is TV, which has been around for a long time. Parents grew up watching it. Parents grew up watching their parents watch it. It’s the first screen our children watch. It’s also the first thing our kids start to stream on tablets and smartphones, whether it be Netflix, Disney+, or YouTube Kids. The progression from one common area TV to a tablet or smartphone is a rung up the ladder and a major reduction of oxygen in the room. The child becomes more focused on their singular interaction and not a broader family engagement with the family TV. Furthermore, the child will start to become possessive of the screen and come to believe it is their screen. As they continue to develop, their proficiency with technology rapidly evolves and the parent will need to closely monitor the level of access the child has.

At this point, the parents need to be closely monitoring duration, content, and the child’s ability to access additional features on the tablet. Now that the child is marching up the hierarchy, the parent must be aware that the higher the child goes, the greater the threat to the child’s development. The bluntest way to slow down that threat is to hold off the introduction of each progressive level as long as possible. The most significant challenge parents will face are other parents and their children, especially other family members that have kids and school friends. There is an incredible amount of pressure a child will put on the parent once their friend or cousin has access to a game, a phone, or social media and they don’t. It’s just not fair.

If, and when, you decide to acquiesce and allow your child to move on to the next stage, it is imperative that you employ monitoring to act as guardrails for your child. The level of risk involved in an unrestricted online internet or gaming world is endless. There are methods, through parental controls and various third party apps, that will allow your child access to some of these corners of the internet without free reign. As your child confidently learns how to navigate the social complexities of the virtual world while still trying to figure out the equally socially complex physical world, you can gradually remove the controls to safely allow them to climb the hierarchy to the top of Everest.