₦airaland Forum

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The other day, I noticed a strange calm in the compound.

Children are usually never quiet. Running up and down, shouting, and making all sorts of noise in the name of having a good time are the marks of children, especially when you live in a neighborhood with plenty of them.

I suspected the silence immediately. I came out and looked for them. Alas, I found them. There were about five of them gathered together, all staring at one thing. I suspected it must be a smartphone, and I was right.

They were staring at a phone screen.

The device was held by one of them, and everyone else crowded around to get a good view. At first, I was concerned, then I was curious. What could they be watching? I know these children and their parents. I even know the owner of the phone.

What I did not know was if he willingly gave them his phone or if one of them stylishly and impulsively took it. My curiosity led me closer to see what kept their eyes glued to the screen. They were scrolling Facebook. Yes, Facebook.

I was shocked. These were small children; the oldest might have been around thirteen years of age. These are underage kids who should not even be viewing Facebook content.

Their brains are not developed enough to handle the information or the influences they are exposed to.

I knew they were just impulsively scrolling through dance videos and comedy skits. But there was no adult to filter the content. Some jokes could be adult jokes. Some things they see could be distorted presentations that shape their minds negatively.

I thought about the owner of the phone and his naivety. He is a big brother figure to them, and he likely thinks he is just being nice or keeping them busy. He would likely handle the matter with kid gloves if I spoke to him, not realizing that he is the one opening the gate for these children to enter a world they aren't ready for.

Recently, I was reading my mail, a newsletter from a tech news agency I subscribe to. They were talking about countries that had placed a social media ban on children. It was then that the image of those children gathering to scroll Facebook with a big brother’s phone came back to me.

So let me give you the gist of what is happening globally. In Europe, countries like Spain are moving to ban children under sixteen from using social media. Over ten other nations are considering similar moves. They are worried about the mental health crisis, the addiction, and the way these apps re-wire a child's brain.

These governments are acting because they have realized that social media is like a digital forest with no fences. Every like, every new video, and every notification acts like digital sugar. It triggers a hit of dopamine in the brain—the same chemical released when people g@mble.
For a child, this is dangerous because their brains are still under construction.

When they get addicted to these quick hits of excitement, they lose the ability to enjoy real-life activities like reading, playing outside, or even focusing on a teacher's voice. They become dopamine junkies before they even hit puberty.

Of course, there are two extremes: Some say a total ban is impossible because children will always find a way, like using a VPN.

Others say we must lock everything down completely.

However, the most balanced perspective is that we cannot leave children to self-regulate. They simply do not have the maturity to do it.

Now this one is for Nigerian parents: We need to talk seriously. We often feel proud when our six-year-old can navigate YouTube or TikTok better than us. We call them tech-savvy or Indomie generation. But we are handing them a loàded gún without teaching them how to aim.

Too much exposure at an early age harms a child’s ability to focus. It kills their patience. When a child is used to three-second videos; whether it's tiktok reels or YouTube shorts, It gives them a shot of excitement.

It makes them find it difficult to sit in a classroom and learn. It also exposes them to foreign cultures and values that may completely contradict what you are teaching them at home.

If we are not careful, this will boomerang.

A child who grows up on a steady diet of skits and content that promote things like quick money will struggle to understand the value of hard work or moral character.

It snowballs into a societal disàster where we would begin to see adults with no attention spans and no moral compass.

The scriptures tell us to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. But if we leave the training of our children to anonymous algorithms and strangers on the internet, we shouldn't be surprised at the adults they become.

We must be intentional about the path we are setting them on.

You do not need to wait for the Nigerian government to pass a law. You are the government of your home.

You must also educate the big brothers, big sisters, aunties, uncles and other older relatives in the house. Make them understand that lending a smartphone to a child is not a kindness; it is a risk, a big risk!

Start by setting a No Screens rule during certain hours. You can use parental control apps to block certain websites. Most importantly, do not use your phone to keep them quiet just because you are busy.

A child’s mind is like wet cement. Whatever falls on it leaves an impression. Let us make sure that what is falling on our children’s minds is not the unfiltered, messy, and often d@ngerous content of the open internet.

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