Raising a gadget-free child! Here’s how a mom did it

Is it really possible to raise children that aren’t hooked on gadgets or glued to the TV? I never thought so. Being a mother of three children, with the two older ones being 11 and 9, it was difficult to control the use of gadgets, as they grew up with them around constantly.

Inspector gadget

I'm a mother of three beautiful angels. My older ones, 11 and 9, literally grew up with gadgets. I used to play rhymes on the desktop or laptop while feeding. They watched children’ channels on TV regularly, and played games on my phone. Slowly, the smartphone and iPad were introduced. They played outside too, but spent a lot of time with some sort of electronic device in their hands.

Althoughboth are very good with academics, love reading books and have an extensive vocabulary, I was worried about the impact that this 24/7 dependence on electronics could have. So I tried to limit it.

Going gadget-free

When my third daughter was born last year, I vowed that I would keep her life gadget-free. But t was easier said than done. Every adult around her has a phone, and she is drawn to the TV each time we switch it on. I sang rhymes to her, but the ones with music on the internet were much better. I read a lot to the baby, too but at the end of one year I realized I could only cut down on the time she spends with electronic company, and there wasn’t any need to shut out electronics completely.

Finding a balance

Frankly, I don't see the need to deprive the child of some entertainment. After having gone completely gadget-free, I understand and feel that children must have at least some sort of supervised exposure to electronics, but there should be some ground rules, too:

1. Parents should set time limits

2. Children must be encouraged to play outside

3. Children should be told about the ill-effects that gadgets can have on them

4. Most importantly, parents must lead by example. Don’t be on the phone when your children want to talk to you, and teach them know how to use gadgets wisely.

Do you supervise your children’s ‘gadget time’? How do you manage to strike the right balance? Let us know in the comments below!