Psychologist: Children must learn to communicate before being introduced to the digital world

Jakarta (ANTARA) — A lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Theresia Novi Poespita Candra, S.Psi., M.Si., Ph.D., a psychologist, explains that each stage of a child’s development requires a different parenting approach, particularly in building communication, emotional, and social skills before they engage intensively with the digital world.

According to Novi, children under seven learn mainly through imitation of their parents’ behaviour and their surroundings.

“Children aged 0 to 7 learn subconsciously. They download everything: how their parents speak, how they behave, how their parents work at home, how they walk — all of this is copied unconsciously by the children,” Novi said when contacted by ANTARA from Jakarta on Wednesday.

She said at this age children imitate the way their parents speak and behave and daily habits without much reasoning.

Meanwhile, at ages seven to twelve, children can be invited to dialogue to build awareness of their behaviour and the choices they make.

“At ages seven to twelve we should start opening dialogues,” she said.

According to her, in this phase parents can start discussing the reasons behind certain rules or habits so that children understand the consequences and develop self-awareness.

Novi also highlighted the importance of limiting gadget use in young children.

She recommended that children have their own gadgets after the age of 12 to 13 so that a child’s social, emotional, and sensorimotor abilities develop first naturally.

According to her, before getting to know the digital world intensively, children need to be accustomed to talking, reading books, exercising, helping parents, and interacting directly with their surroundings.

She reminded that gadget use too early without supervision can make it difficult to break away from dependence because it becomes a habit.

“If from a young age they are used to holding a mobile phone, later it will be difficult to revert because it has become a habit,” Novi said.

Therefore, she urged parents to build direct interactions and warm communication with their children from early on so that the child’s emotional and social development proceeds optimally.