Although one cannot deny the benefits technology has brought to mankind but has it become a hindrance in the social development of children?
Nowadays most children are engaged in
searching the web instead of socializing .this is an alarming situation as
being a child one can easily stumble upon the "wrong" place and it
leads to the destruction of the development of a child. As Islam is a complete
code of life in guiding in all spheres of life so it has much to say about the
social development of youngsters. According to Islam, parents should interact
with their children and bring their selves down to the level of their offspring
to teach them right from wrong. It narrated from the prophet Muhammad (Peace be
Upon Him)
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“That the person, who has a child,
should behave like a child with him.”
However, with the growing technology, we
have completely deserted our Islamic values and misused them in the way that
spoils children. Today parents neglect these values by handing their children
fancy gadgets e.g.: cellphones or giving them the control of remote without any
check and balance. It's as if the parents are valuing their comfort over teaching
their kids what should be taught to them. Giving them control of the remote to
the child may seem like a petty issue but it isn't because the content such as
cartoon shows shown on television does more harm to child psychology than good
especially if there is no parental supervision. Watching television without
parental supervision is linked to aggressive and violent behavior in children
later in life. Moreover, media undoubtedly plays a vital role in transmitting
cultural and moral values but it has failed to transmit these moral values
which were reflected in an incident that took place on September 1st, 2015 when
two teenagers carried out a suicide pact during assembly in Karachi with the
hope of meeting again after reincarnation. This one unfortunate incident was a
huge example of how not only parents had failed to inject Islamic values into
the deceased teenagers but how the negligence of parents distorts the young
minds of children and as a result, they become socially and mentally unstable.
Parents should be aware of how their children are interacting socially as at an
early age child's psychology is highly influenced by his social environment.
They should know what ideas their children are getting from the online world
e.g. movies, video games along social sites instead of building walls between
them which leads to the social isolation of their children. They should as
Muslims follow the teachings of Islam by showing affection to their children
and think twice before prioritizing their comfort over the social and
psychological needs of their little ones.
Side effects of negligence go along way_
we are after all that we do or choose to do. What can you possibly expect from
a person who has if not all but spend half of his life surfing the internet? He
definitely would not know the value of relationship while Islam emphasis on
brotherhood as the family is the greatest treasure in the world. The technology
was made to connect people around the world however instead it seems it is
taking children away from their family and parents from their children
consequently these children turn out to be depressed and intolerant in the
future ending up as criminals because socializing on social sites and not in
real life influences the curious children without them realizing.
A decade ago I remember the streets
being filled with the chatters of the people it was a beautiful time because we
sought comfort in what is real.it was a healthy environment because people were
mentally stable at that time and not isolated like today
Often children resort to pass time on
the internet when they are deprived of love and attention. This is how they
express their loneliness which later on becomes a habit or an addiction. Lack
of socializing in children often leads to depression.
Technology is a tool and if monitored
properly children can use it to gain knowledge as Islam emphasizes discovering
new knowledge even if you may have to travel a great distance to quench your
thirst for it Prophet Muhammad said to his companions, "Seek knowledge
even if [you have to go] to China. Surely seeking knowledge is an obligation
for every Muslim." If there are negative impacts of technology, on another hand, there are also positive examples that we can relate to for example
every picture has two sides and it is up to us to which side to look at if we
see children committing suicide as a result of negligence and technology then
there are children like Arfa Kareem who had set an example for all the other
children at a very young age of how technology can be used to gain success.
Technology has both positive and negative influence on the social development of children; however, there are not one but many causes of children resorting to using technology in a nefarious way. Internet, movies, social media, lack of affection and attention of parents, and the distortion of cultural values by weak faith of Muslim ummah all play their role in it. A child is born innocent it is up to the surroundings and the amount of time along with social ethics which we transfer into him can make him either a lost soul or a shining star like Arfa Karim and many other Muslim scientists such as Ibn Sina, Omar Khayyam that brought innovations to the world of technology.
Contributed by Zahra Anum
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