Every parent’s dream is to raise mentally healthy children so into individuals that can solve life problems.
They should build character, get ready to turn their wishes into reality, and be fearless when they face life circumstances.
What is the Meaning of Children’s Mental Health
Being mentally healthy defines children’s development in school, studying, learning, social skills activities, and positive functions they have at home and community.
Children can demonstrate strange behavior, such as abnormal behavior, inability to control their emotions, lack of communication, and anxiety.
One of the reasons that might lead to this can be their mental health, or in other words, mental state.
We must take care of our children’s mental health, even if that means risking ours (if we even have any mental health left).
Technology as a Tool for Children’s Mental Health
Using tech can contribute to fast and easy solving problems. I mean, that’s why they invented technology and magically made our problems go away, right?
There are a lot of apps and courses that can provide help and guides for children having a tough time. We’ll later go over them.
Online Therapy
It is hard to talk about feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety. It is difficult for parents and kids to meet with a therapist. It can be quite unpleasant.
Sitting in a room face-to-face with the therapist and exposing themselves can develop anxiety and other mental problems.
Technology implements opportunities for online therapy and counseling services. It is more comfortable from our home, where kids feel safer expressing their true feelings.
Online therapy saves money and nerves and develops positive feelings about technology solving our problems.
You Are Not Alone
When parents face health problems with their kids, they try and put maximum effort into solving them. Searching on the net, parents find other parents with similar issues or even the same problem they have.
Virtual groups are always a great choice because you know you belong somewhere, create warm relations by sharing your own experience, and get the feeling that you are not alone.
This link will forward you to some associations and even hotlines that can help when you and your children have trouble with mental health.
Support Children’s Mental Health Through Apps, Games, and Activities
As we mentioned before, a lot of apps are designed to help your children overcome stress and other mental problems. In the following paragraphs, I’ve listed my favorite ones!
· Positive Penguin
A positive penguin in your life removes all pessimism and includes an optimistic view of your child’s life.
And did I mention that it features the cutest ever penguins in the world? Writing this article, I realized that children’s apps are way better than those boring social media platforms.
· Smiling Mind
This leading Australian app is perfect for anyone that wants to get in touch with their mental state and turn it into something positive.
Parents and children can use this app and improve their mental health together.
· Calm
A leading digital personal assistant, Calm helps you, as the name says, calm down, recollect your thoughts and go on with your day.
It introduces you to healthy daily routines and habits that improve your and your child’s mental health.
· Learn With Sesame Street
This free app, featuring all your favorite characters from Sesame Street, is an interactive way of embracing your child’s creativity.
It’s filled with songs, stories, and other positive activities that benefit your kids’ mental health.
· PlayKids – Cartoons and Games
Also free, PlayKids – Cartoons and Games offer different educational activities for children.
The colorful and playful interface makes it perfect for children and their state of mind.
Many other apps on downloading apps can benefit and improve the mental health of your children.
How Can Parents Protect Their Children’s Mental Health
Technology usage is increasing in every aspect of our life. Kids, as well as parents, use tech devices daily.
Despite the benefits technology brought to our lives, tech usage has affected our health, especially our kids’ mental health.
At some point, it seems that by buying tech devices for our kids, we have bought our own “destruction.” Every decision about tech usage can be wrong, and we mustn’t allow our kids to overuse it.
We can all agree that balancing wishes and facts is a choice we must make, especially for children’s mental health.
Choosing Other Activities Instead of Screen Usage
Playing games with our kids outside the house (even if the weather is cold) is always a good decision and provides less screen time.
This way, your children can feel better physically and mentally while also enjoying themselves.
Demands of Life
Rules determine our kids’ actions. As parents, we always consider our children’s health a priority.
By finding methods to improve their digital usage, we have concluded that developing tech habits and literacy is a proven way of safe tech usage.
Control Freak
Parents can’t leave their kids alone for too long while using tech devices without controlling and monitoring.
We can’t achieve this all day long because we go to work, but we can always show our control freak character by putting a camera in their room.
OK, that might be too harsh. Checking up on your children without invading their privacy is the way to go.
Educate Kids to be Good Members of the Digital World
Respecting digital-world rules creates a good atmosphere for all the members and users.
When we teach our kids how to use tech devices and to act politely online, we usually expect the same from the other side of the screen.
But we, parents, must also teach our kids not to bully other users on the Internet because cyberbullying affects kids’ mental health and causes stress, depression, anxiety, etc.
Conclusion
As parents, we must cherish and take care of our children’s mental well-being. You probably don’t want to have frustrated and sad kids in the household.
So, as parents or caretakers, we must raise healthy generations that will lead the future.
Technology might just support children’s mental health, but only if we use it wisely and carefully.
ALSO READ: How Much is Too Much Gaming for Kids
