The use of digital technologies is everyday, and the most important task of parents is to guide their children by example and find the right balance so that children discover the possibilities that technology provides, but at the same time are protected from the potential threats it brings.
This was said by the participants of the conference "Click with children: How to preserve their development potential in the digital world", which they organized Crnogorski Telekom, Association Parents and Kreativa LAB.
First Lady of Montenegro, Milena Milatović, she assessed that the modern age, with all the advantages it offers, brings with it significant challenges, and as a mother of three children, she knows well the joy, but also the care, that parenthood brings.
"Today, more than ever, children are surrounded by screens, applications, platforms, and digital content, which many parents, as members of the second generation, do not fully know. Our children often use digital platforms as the main source of learning and entertainment and spend several hours a day in the digital world. This is a fact that makes us as parents think because of the significant impact on children's development, their education and social skillsMilatović pointed out.
Director of the Finance Department at Crnogorski Telekom, Gordana Blagojević, she said that the company's goal is to provide a safe digital zone for all users, especially for the youngest, so that they feel safe in the digital world.
"Therefore, we act from a position of digital ethics and responsibility, promoting the safe use of technology. With this conference, we want to contribute to education, not only about the tools we provide, such as Magenta Dom, our unique solution on the Montenegrin market that enables security and parental control on the home Internet, but also about the importance of healthy, constructive use of technology in children's sensitive developmental periodsBlagojević said.
Waldorf teacher from Croatia, Duško Ilijević Striček, believes that boundaries can be set for children safely, self-consciously from the calm position of an adult, who cares about the child's future and development.
"We start from ourselves with our attitude and role, which must be worthy of imitation, and when I set a limit for myself, I know how to set a limit for the child as well. We can be nervous, sad, happy, tired, exhausted, but we need to know how to react in these situations. In our relationship with the child, we must always think about the fact that we are adults, and the child is a child", He said Uncle Ilijević.
The limit is set out of love, the punishment comes from impotence.
"We will not establish a limit with punishments, but with care and consistent behavior, we will best set a healthy limit, which will be important to the child in the future. We live in a busy world and we are used to taking our phone out of our pocket and finding an answer to any question in a second, but education doesn't work like that. Education takes time, calmness, patience and consistency. Developing habits sometimes takes longer, sometimes shorter, and we cannot expect the child to make a change just because we said or did something once. We cannot expect the child to be a super model of humanity if the parent is upset and does not know how to make the child a super model of humanity", is clear Uncle Ilijević.
The phone is not a means of education and giving a screen to a child is, as he emphasized, quite irresponsible.
"A large number of people contact me asking how to separate their children from the screen. Then it's too late to think about it. How did you give your child a screen? The parent must be a consistent model, not to have the phone in his hand all the time, because if the parent is not like that in front of the child, the child will not need the phone either. Try to constantly interact with the stone instead of the phone, the child will want the stone, because he sees you doing it", he is sure Uncle Ilijević.
Child psychiatrist at the Palmotić Institute for Mental Health in Serbia, Dr. Nenad Rudić, believes that new technologies bring many challenges and that the child's development is influenced by them.
"The harmful effects are there, in terms of increased risks that the child does not get what is naturally expected. He certainly did not expect the digital era, at least we think so. A big question for parents is how they use digital technologies. Many parents spend a lot of time on the phone, on social networks, playing games. If we are not ready to face the challenges, to protect and guard the child, to be with him, to take care of what is happening, then we are not doing one function properly.", He said Rudić.
It is important, as he believes, that parents should not be naive with digital technologies. He is clear that all good things have a shadow and that it is important to be aware of this.
"We still do not know all the challenges, so it is important not to be naive. The role of the parent is to protect the child. It does not need to be exposed to everything. Life has its steps and it doesn't take a child on the first step to know what is on the last. If we do not deal with the child, it will be very difficult for us when we have to do it. He won't listen. The phone that is often in the hand becomes part of the body scheme and this can be a serious challenge. Our developmental goal is to have a close and strong relationship with the child, and we cannot have that if we are not present, if we do not guide him, if we do not teach him through a model", is clear Rudić.
Author and lecturer of the NTC System of Learning from Serbia, Dr. Vuk Rajović, believes that learning should resemble play, but learning methods cannot support the way a child's brain works and there is a growing problem with lack of attention and concentration.
"What we need to change are the ways and methods of learning. We often witness the traditional pistup in learning where the lesson is read many times, but the brain no longer works like that and it is much more difficult for children today to learn by heart than it was for us. he said Rajovic.
He believes that the most important role of parents is to create a stimulating environment for children, with as few screens as possible, as much nature as possible, communication, emotional development, so that they are ready for cognitive learning and socialization.
"We had a lesson on fractions. We introduced the concept of fractions to the children by dividing the children into teams and e.g. there are seven of us in the team and I, as a teacher, say three weeks they should squat, one seventh they should stand, five weeks they should jump. The rest of the class should say how many tasks were correct. In this way, the whole class is involved in the learning process", He said Rajovic.
Data not only here, but worldwide, as he stated, show that today in the school system, students have ten percent of the time available for talking, exchanging ideas, and 90 percent of the time is left to the teacher.
"Children should have time for creative thinking, connection, and we want to encourage teamwork, empathy, and thought processes that will help children understand the material. And in order to apply new models, we need training and education", he said is Rajović.
