Toddlers Watch Too Often Youtube, Can It Really Make You Slow to Talk? This is the Explanation of a UM Surabaya Lecturer

• 14 Sep
• 2022

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Toddlers Watch Too Often Youtube, Can It Really Make You Slow to Talk? This is the Explanation of a UM Surabaya Lecturer

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• By Uswah Sahal
• Technology
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Parenting children in today's digital age sometimes makes millennial parents confused. The reason is, they often wonder when is it better to introduce children to modern technology like Youtube?

Of course, it's common for us to see it in public places or at home, toddlers are familiar with watching on YouTube. YouTube media has become the most interesting entertainment for children and can influence their development.

While some parents are confused, others believe that YouTube has a major influence on their children's language development. For those who don't believe, YouTube is considered a "perpetrator" that makes children experience speech delays.

Sri Lestari UM Surabaya English Education Lecturer shares tips for parents on using Youtube.

According to Tari, the first thing to do is invite children to interact while watching. Language development in children is influenced by two factors: internal and external. Internally can be influenced due to genetic factors, speech muscles, and nerve conditions. Meanwhile, external factors relate to communication with parents or caregivers, the media, or the games he usually plays.

Tari explained that YouTube does have both positive and negative effects. Through visualization, children are helped to understand a concept. YouTube is one of the superior media in terms of audio-visual. However, excessive use in children and without assistance will certainly harm the child's vision and language development.

“Letting children watch without assistance means communication only goes one way and it will harm their language development. Parents can invite their children to sing or tell stories while watching,” explained Tari Rabu (14/9/22)

Second, supervise and limit children's viewing. Youtube media may contain inappropriate content such as promoting violence, sexuality, or language that is inappropriate for children. This is certainly dangerous for children's development so parental supervision is needed. Use recommended age restrictions in YouTube's tools to reduce parental concerns about inappropriate content.

"Contents that can affect children's language development rapidly, for example children's songs because it has been proven to increase children's phonological awareness," he said again.

Third, provide Screen Time rules to children. Screen time is the time limit used for using things such as computers or watching television, including YouTube and playing games. The time limit for watching YouTube for children over 2 years should be no more than two hours. Of course, the most important thing is for children under 2 years old, parents need to avoid exposure to shows that are one-way communication, such as YouTube, television, or children's toys that prioritize viewing.

Fourth, pay attention to the range of children's language development. Child development is certainly not the same. However, there are limitations that need to be an alarm for parents so that the handling of speech delays can be done as soon as possible.

For two-year-olds, they can already say one or two words while for three-year-olds their ability increases to three words. For children who have below standard abilities, of course, they cannot be immediately diagnosed with speech delays.

"Parents should consult a child development expert if they find irregularities in their child's language development. Self-diagnosis certainly will not help. The quicker it is handled, the easier it will be to solve the problem of child language delays," concluded Tari.