Child Addiction To Devices? Psychologist Explains Right Restriction Key

Illustration - Two children playing gadgets. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Addiction to gadgets is increasingly being found in children and adolescents. Ease of access to information, entertainment without limits, and digital features that trigger dependence make it difficult for children to escape from the screen.

Many of them use gadgets as a escape from boredom, school pressure, to socializing needs. This condition makes the role of parents more important, especially in building children's ability to control themselves and use gadgets in a healthy manner.

Psychologist from the Indonesian Psychology Association (HIMPSI), Samanta Elsener, M.Psi, emphasized that self-control development is the key so that children are not trapped in excessive playing habits.

He reminded that although the ideal limit for using gadgets for entertainment is around two hours per day, in fact many children and teenagers are still trying to find ways to access devices without supervision.

"When we talk about ideal (playing the device time) a maximum of two hours but we know that children and teenagers like to be slow. So they are very creative, they can steal time at school, when they are taking a shower, and others when they are not under parental supervision," said Samanta as quoted by ANTARA.

According to him, controlling the use of gadgets is not enough to rely solely on time rules. The more important thing is how children are able to build self-control through communication that is consistent with parents.

"So actually back again how can we teach them self-control from us talking to them. When we chat with them, they have an understanding, and in the end it becomes their control when the time (playing the device) is 2 hours, it's 2 hours," he said.

To minimize the risk of exposure to harmful content, Samanta encourages parents to increase digital literacy. This includes understanding how algorithms work on digital platforms, which automatically provide similar content after users watch one video to completion. By understanding this mechanism, parents can help direct children's viewing to safer and more age-appropriate content.

He also welcomed the policy of limiting access to social media for minors who are now in effect in Indonesia. According to him, this step is important to protect teenagers from negative content that can affect behavior to threaten their safety.

In addition, Samanta reminded that in the early days teenagers were a period when hormones and brain development experienced rapid changes, so they became more vulnerable to the influence of improper digital content.

"We don't want these teenagers to be more exposed to negative content that could harm them and their friends," he said.