Last February, we said goodbye to our broadband and say hello to our PLDT DSL/FIBR. We’re so happy because of the fast connection but we have no idea that it will also start our YouTube Dilemma.
My son learned to use the YouTube apps and enjoys it because no more buffering. I just let him because he is just watching and listening to “Frozen” theme songs.
But few weeks had passed and we’re noticing changes of behavior. Such as
1. He always wanted to stay at home. As if he can stay at home, we don’t have yaya nor helper so wherever we go, he goes.
Me: Ethan, take a bath now. We will go to the grocery (lola’s house, school etc.)
Ethan: I’ll stay.
2. He always says “Let’s go home”. Whenever we’re out he always says, mommy let’s go home or daddy let’s go home.
3. He is so much affected when there is a slow connection, intermittent connection or no internet.
Ex. My husband was driving and when we’re 5 to 7 houses away from our place, my son cried and we asked why and he said.
Ethan: No YouTube
Me: There’s no internet in the car.
4. He is so addicted. He can stay for hours watching YouTube if you will not stop him. He doesn’t want to share the iPad anymore.
One time, I was busy doing household chores and I heard my five-year-old son said Oh my g*sh, sh*t and motherf*cker. I was really shocked and I asked him, “What did you say?” and he said “nothing”. I asked again “What did you say?”. He did not answer anymore and I told him that I don’t want him to say those bad words.
I checked the YouTube and he is watching Minecraft Tutorial video. Waah! We don’t have Minecraft games so why he is watching it. He learned those bad words in that video. I told my son “Do not watch this video again”
I’m happy that he obeyed me and I no longer hear those bad words but still, we’re finding ways to stop or at least lessen his addiction to YouTube.
1. We hide the YouTube apps but he cried. My husband even said “Grabe iyak nito, daig pa pag umaalis ako (out of town or out of the country)”
2. I declared no YouTube days.
3. Lastly, my husband brings the iPad in the office so he can’t use it.
Kids are smart, one time I saw him watching YouTube using my phone. I told him he can’t use my phone. He said, watch sa computer (Laptop), of course, I said no. He said, watch YouTube sa TV. I said no internet sa room. (His dad showed him before that he can watch YouTube on our TV), again I said no.
It’s been more than two or three weeks already that my husband brings the iPad in the office and until now whenever he wakes up he will say.
Ethan: Mommy, I’m sad.
Me: Why?
Ethan: I can’t watch YouTube.
Well, at least now he is so excited to see his daddy, of course, he is waiting for the iPad. He always says whenever I call his dad.
Ethan: Daddy go home na, drive fast ha.
Or
Ethan: Tagal man daddy.
I hope someday the addiction will stop and I pray that he won’t be like this when school day starts.
Care to share some tips.
Update: YouTube is no longer my problem. My son follows our rules, no iPad during weekdays. No iPad if he did something not nice. We are using YouTube app for kids.
Buti i cut mo talaga kasi di maganda sa kanya yan. Buti dala ni ariel ang Ipad.
ReplyDeleteMy son went through a sort of gadget addiction also last summer. I knew I had to do something drastic. I actually declared a total gadget ban during school season - as in even on weekends. It takes a lot of extra work for me, though coz I have to be the one to figure out what activities he can do. I will give in once in a while, though, like if he gets extra good grades or if he has been extra behaved.
ReplyDeleteThis summer, I allow him to watch videos and play games for a bit during the day, but regulated and monitored kami. Like I said, effort for me, especially in the beginning, but it's worth it. Maraming tears at first, but once the kids learn to see the videos/games as a reward, then it gets easier. Detox and tough love lang talaga. It's so worth it though.
For Minecraft, look for StampyLongHead. He doesn't curse, thank goodness. His is the only channel that my cousins and I allow our kids to watch.
My daughter loves watching tutorials, clay dough, and mtv's in Youtube too. I use watching Youtube as a reward after reading her books. It also helps that we don't have so many gadgets.
ReplyDeleteMy niece (6yrs old) and nephew (4yrs old) both have their old ipad mini, they use it to communicate with their mom. They were also once addicted to the ipad, to the extent nna di ka na papansinin even you're there... ngaun di na masyado. We gave them legos and other toys and malaki factor pag may kalaro kasi. They opt now to play with other kids than use their ipad.
ReplyDeletePareho tayo ng problema! I don't know what to do. :(
ReplyDeleteMost of the time, Meg would request for DisneyJr episodes on YouTube that she missed. But there was one time that she searched for Miley Cyrus and yeah started imitating it. I can't look out all the time naman whenever she wants to watch something. So what I did was to schedule her YouTube watching in the time that I am not busy so I can join her in watching. I set rules din. Parang reward lang yung pag watch ng videos para maisip nya na hindi yun habit. Mas madalas nga ngayong summer kasi naawa naman ako. But I always talk to her about school so I think di nya hahanap hanapin yun. Hopefully. =)
ReplyDeleteWow! He complains na off slow internet! Hmm. I wish I had better tips other than taking the iPad away from him. With our little boy kasi, he's 3 years old, I only charge the iPad when I know we'll be eating out and that's the only way to keep him still for the duration of dinner. So when we get home, I hide the iPad na.
ReplyDeleteWe had that problem with our 3-year old. That's why we began limiting screen time at home (I have a post about it on the blog). We've been doing it since late January. The rule is, she can watch tv an hour a day and play with the iPad for 30 minutes in the evening. That's it--no negotiations. Also, introduce other activities to your son. Look for what you think interests him then do that with him. When we noticed my daughter loves art, we introduced watercolor painting. She prefers that over the tv or the iPad. :)
ReplyDeleteWe used to let my 2 year old son play with our phones and the Ipad anytime. But when we noticed that he got more demanding - wanting to get it everytime he sees it - and making tantrums at that, we decided to lessen his screen time. He still cries but I tell him that he's not allowed anymore. Then I let him cry. I even tell him "its time to cry." He understands this already because he knows that I will not give in no matter how much he cries. So he stops crying. At the same time, I distract him with something else. Then he forgets about the phone already.
ReplyDeleteNow we just let him use the phone or ipad when we're out and we want him to just sit still (like eating in restos, in the plane, etc. So he also get more excited everytime he gets to play with ocassionally!
We let our 3 kids use their tablet/iPad when they want to but we also set some limits. Luckily, my three-year-old is not yet so addicted to using it. Sometimes, when he's using it, he'll just suddenly leave it because nagsawa na sya. He'll then play with his toys instead. I need to instill more discipline with my girls who are 12 and 11 year old. They just got their own iPad this summer and have become quite addicted to it. I'm planning to declare "no iPad days" during school days. Hope you'll be able to work something out with your son.
ReplyDeleteI can so relate. That's why we now have a time limit for device use. I also came up with a schedule on how long they can stay in a site/app/game putting longer minutes in educational apps and programs. I limit their device use to 2 hours max. Afterwards they can either play with their toys, read books, draw/paint or do something creative.
ReplyDeleteWe were glad that our son prefers books over ipad and I hope it stays that way. What worked for us know is limited time for use (which he use to learn/study pa din), that includes us parents to have limited gadget use (including iphones) when we are together.
ReplyDeleteChildren have to learn this the hard way, maybe diverting their attention into better activities (socially, mentally) can help.
ReplyDeleteFor my daughters, no gadget policy during weekdays. Sometimes it's difficult since they see their parents on the computer the whole day but they already saw how the gadgets affect their grades when they don't follow our rules.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you since you took that step in to intervene, it takes guts for a parent that their child has a gadget addiction and social media addiction.
ReplyDeleteAs a suggestion, you can maybe ask what makes youtube interesting to him and based on that introduce him to books which could also provide him the knowledge. It's more of finding a substitute to quench his thrist.
I am happy to say that my kids are both gadget and smartphone free. Sometimes it also just takes parenting playtime.
Have you also tried child filtering on what he browses on the internet?
Will research on "child filtering". #clueless Thanks! :)
DeleteAww! Happened to my daughter too. But she's younger, 2 years old so it was easier to stop the addiction. I just deleted the app :) Goos luck Mommy Michi!
ReplyDelete