First Time on A Computer

First Time On A Computer Gadgets: Pros and Cons By: Rod Paulo Ariola Duran Somewhere in Qatar in the year 2019, there lives a 12-year-old boy named John Paul. He is an excellent student. He always achieves good grades and exerts a lot of effort into all of his school and extra-curricular activities. He is such a perfect child that he doesn’t even surf the internet. The only type of gadget he has is a Nokia analog cellphone. He believes that gadgets are too dangerous for him and that he is too young to be exploring the internet. Whenever his classmates ask him to buy an up-to-date phone, he always objects and replies with “There is no need for that. When you need me, you can always call me using my number.” But all of that changed when the COVID-19 pandemic came around. Everyone is now in quarantine and school is now relying on E-Learning for classes. So, John’s father bought him a personal computer for online schooling. He started using the computer and was immediately obsessed. He hated himself for not using gadgets before and not realizing just how cool the internet is. He made a Facebook account and was amazed by how easily he can connect with friends. He found some cool games and was baffled by the graphics and easy to use controls. Soon enough, he was spending hours playing games and surfing the internet under the guise of doing a project. Every day after school, he plays his games and procrastinated on his activities. Whenever his parents ask him what he is doing, he always says he is working on a school project. John kept on doing this and his parents never noticed. They always believe in him since they know how much effort John puts into his studies. This kept going for the first quarter of the school year, and now, the physical effects of over-exposure to gadgets can be clearly seen. His vision become slightly impaired and he usually feels mild headaches and dizziness. He has become fatter, easily gets tired from light exercise, and is developing issues in his coordination. His parents did not fail to notice this and immediately saw through what he had been doing for the past weeks. They called John for a talk, but they did not immediately force him to stop, instead, they tried to persuade him first. They believe he is a smart kid and can be persuaded by logic and facts. They talked about the effects of overexposure to gadgets. They said that continuous exposure to blue light emitted by gadgets can damage the eyes. The eye’s cornea and lens cannot block or reflect this light and it gets absorbed deep in the eye.

Intense exposure to light may have the same effect when you are frequently exposed to fast-moving video games, emitting the ‘blue light’. Children who rely on their playing time in front of screens rather than outside in the playgrounds do not burn calories and therefore become weak and fat. This may lead to complications such as diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. They also mentioned that cellphones and other wireless devices are considered category 2B risk because of their radiation emission. Radiofrequency exposure has been proven to be a threat to children. With all of these facts, John realized just how foolish he had been and that if he continue doing this, he could reap the negative effects in his life. With this, he immediately agreed to the ground rules his parents set up for him when using the computer and taking care of himself. First, John is only allowed to use the computer until 9 pm during school days. Second, John is only allowed to play games on the computer on weekends for two hours. Lastly, John has to sleep at least 8 hours a day, do regular exercise, and have a proper healthy diet. In the end, John was able to go back to being a good child and healthy condition. He has learned a lot of things in the past few months. He learned about the danger of overexposure to gadgets and how these dangers can easily lead to permanent disabilities. He also learned that gadgets can be extremely useful when used responsibly. His parents were very happy to see him being responsible and healthy again.