Medical and Socio-Pedagogical Risks of Primary School Children Using Digital Devices: An Empirical Study

Abstract

The study considers the medical and socio-pedagogical risks of primary school children using digital devices and social networks, based on the results of a medical and social study, the purpose of which was to assess and systematize these risks. The digital devices, the Internet and activities on social networks have become an integral part of the lives of modern children. However, their use can negatively affect the neuropsychic status of the child and lead to problems with vision and the musculoskeletal system. For this reason, parental control over the use of gadgets and social networks that is safe for children’s health is very important. The methodological basis of the research was social pedagogy, which explores the processes of interaction of a growing person with various objects of society in the main spheres of his/her life: family, educational and social, performing an integrating function in the study of current social problems of children, families and society by various scientific disciplines. A complex of research methods was used, with the main one being a questionnaire survey of parents with children of primary school age and living in the Borovsky district of the Kaluga region (the research base of the Research Institute of Hygiene and Health Protection of Children and Adolescents, National Medical Research Center for Children’s Health of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation). It was found that watching videos is a risk of increased irritability, computer games, searching for information on the Internet, uncontrolled use of digital media - a risk of visual impairment, using social networks - complaints for communication difficulties. More than 50% of parents need help from specialists in improving digital literacy and using digital devices safely for children’s health.