HOLIDAY, A CHANCE TO COMMUNICATE BETTER
Bell rings for the last time for elementary and secondary education today and approximately 16 million students will go on a semester break. However, the parents are faced with the fear of their kids being sucked into a digital world. The experts believe that the holiday period would be a good chance to strengthen the communication between the child and the parents. Experts also indicate that children’s regular schedule gets messed up during this period and warn the parents to watch for their nourishment and not to let the kids to spend too much time in front of the computers.
According to the 2013 research by Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) on use of information technologies among children aged 6-15 and media, Turkish children generally start to use computers at the age of 8, and the Internet at the age of 9.
While 45.6% of the kids use internet almost every day, 92.5% of them watch television almost every day. 38.2% of them use internet up to 2 hours, 47.4% between 2-10 hours, 11.8% between 11-24 hours, and 2.6% use internet over 24 hours in one week.
For a better parent-child communication…
Assoc. Prof.Dr. Ebru Uzunoğlu, Izmir University of Economics (IUE) Acting Dean of Faculty of Communication, indicated that today’s children were born into and grow up in a digital world that today’s parents never experienced, so they felt uneasy about it from time to time. “We witness that students, who get bored with school, confine themselves to the world of media especially throughout their holiday break. At this point, the type of communication the children and youth are involved with their parents is very important in terms of their personality development. The question of what type of a life their kids are involved in this digital culture of tablets, computers, game consoles, mobile phones worry the parents from time to time,” stated Assoc. Prof.Dr. Ebru Uzunoğlu.
The pleasure of joint production!
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uzunoğlu draws attention to the power of communication in parent-child relation, and indicates that one of the most distinguishing features of children and youth living in a digital world is the need of involvement actually. Uzunoğlu stated the following:
“With this in mind, we need to get our children involved in activities, instead of offering them something ready; we need to teach them the pleasure of producing together. The adults need to leave behind being parents and learn how to be a ‘real family’; this would be very beneficial for effective communication channels. Let’s keep in mind that effective communication is based on understanding of dialog, two sided, common interest, not on monolog, didactic, one sided.”
‘You can have fun and eat healthy during the holidays’
Prof. Dr. Nazan Turhan, Dean of IUE Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Food Sciences, on the other hand reported that children’s eating habits changed over the holiday period and warned the parents about keeping their breakfast pattern. “A healthy and balanced eating is also important for the immune system of a child. Each meal should contain the basic food groups: meat, diary, vegetables, fruits, and grains. Instead of unhealthy snacks, children can consume fresh squeezed juices, flavoured milks, yoghurt with honey, sandwiches, dried nuts such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts,” recommended Prof. Dr. Nazan Turhan.
Food is a not a reward…
Prof. Dr. Turhan pointed that food was used as a reward during holiday period and she said, “People tend to eat out more and prefer fast-food. The food should not be used as a reward or a punishment. Children should be educated about nourishment and what each food should be consumed for. The parents should be on the same page and be consistent about the issue.”
Get active together…
Prof. Dr. Turhan also mentioned that children spending all their time in front of computer and television tend to get less active, and she made the following recommendations about sports:
“Encouraging your child to do sports regularly and instilling this idea as a way of life is the most important gift you can ever give to your child. But remember that children often take their parents as an example. So while you get active you will be encouraging them to get active as well.”
