Stay up late watching phone
Ms. Phan Hong Thai (living on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Hue City) said that these days her family has relatives from Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang coming back to celebrate Tet, so there are a lot of children. Adults are busy cleaning the house, going to the market, making offerings..., while 5-6 children between the ages of 5 and 12 just sit together in one place, each engrossed in their phones, no one saying a word to anyone.
Tet is a long holiday, so if you don't maintain daily discipline, your child won't be able to take his eyes off his phone.
"Seeing them glued to their phones is frustrating, but otherwise, what else would they do? Parents are busy and can't take their children out to play, so if they take away their phones and let them play by themselves, the older ones might yell at the younger ones. Just give each child a phone and they'll be good and quiet so the adults can take care of the work," Ms. Thai laughed.
Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Hai Dan (Phu Thanh apartment building, Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City) said that on normal days, children have to worry about studying and obeying their parents' "iron discipline", so on Tet holiday, "let them be a little more relaxed".
"Normally, at 9 o'clock in the evening, I tell my children to go to bed and wake up early the next morning to go to school. These days, they sometimes go to bed at 11 or 12 o'clock after 'full eyes' with TV and phones, because they don't have to go to school the next day. I myself also take advantage of... staying up late to watch movies because I rarely have the chance to take a day off from work and wake up late like during Tet. Therefore, the whole family's life is almost turned upside down," Ms. Dan shared.
Maintain discipline, encourage children to participate in many activities
Dr. Nguyen Hong Phan, Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, said that Tet is the time when both parents and children are most likely to be lax in discipline, because they think this is a time to rest. Therefore, even adults can have irregular activities, not just children.
"During Tet, children are off from school so they have a lot more time, so parents still have to maintain discipline with their children if they don't want them to only know about TV and phones and forget everything around them. Time needs to be limited, otherwise children will watch TV and phones all day," Dr. Phan noted.
Children participating in activities such as wrapping cakes is also a way to limit TV and phone use.
To keep children away from the TV and phones, according to Dr. Phan, parents must see the values of reunion, gathering, and sharing of Tet, and from there have activities to guide their children to participate in.
"For example, when wrapping banh chung or banh tet, let your child sit and help fold leaves, teach them how to wrap, and share stories about the situation... Children should also be encouraged to clean the house. Not to mention, children should also participate in offerings so they understand the meaning. There are many activities during Tet, if parents let their children do them, there will be less time for phones and TV," Dr. Phan shared.
Master Nguyen Cong Binh, Director of the Hoang Minh Center for Applied Educational Psychology, also stated that Tet is a long holiday for children after stressful days of studying, so most of them no longer maintain their daily rules and habits. The trend of using TV and phones with a sudden increase in frequency leads to risks to both physical and mental health.
Master Binh gives advice: "Parents should work with their children to make a plan for fun and activities during the Tet holiday. What to do each day, where to go each day... In particular, create opportunities for children to participate in family activities such as cleaning the house, decorating for Tet, going shopping. At the beginning of the year, go together to wish grandparents and relatives a happy new year. Or take children to places where there are spring entertainment spots and folk games to help children gain more knowledge, develop physically and mentally."
According to Mr. Binh, phones and televisions are also essential needs, so we cannot completely ban children from using them. We should set limits and rules, such as what time of day children can use them, how many minutes each time they can use them...
"Parents should analyze for their children how using TV and phones too much will affect their health. At the same time, if the children follow the rules well, they should be praised, even given small rewards to encourage them. If the children do not follow the rules correctly, parents should not scold them but should gently remind them or give them a suitable form of punishment to remember," said Master Nguyen Cong Binh.
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