LETTERS: Nowadays, all kinds of communication technologies are being available to the younger generation. Parents allow their children to use such technologies for educational purposes or entertainment.
Some parents let their children play online games or apps for leisure on the Internet.
The issue is how the young use the Internet safely.
Few parents have any clue as to what their children are doing online such as who they meet and talk to, whether they are hooked on gambling apps and the kind of websites they are visiting.
It is crucial that parents use family-based software and filtering programmes for their children's own good when it comes to Internet access.
It is advisable not to allow children to use the Internet for more than one hour at a time.
Parents should monitor the children's online activities through smartphones or direct observation without infringing on their privacy.
On the other hand, parents may encourage their children to play educational games that have a positive effect on their learning capacity.
This is because from a cognitive-developmental orientation point of view, educational games enhance attention or concentration, visual perception, memory, simultaneous processing, meta-cognitive potential and rapid processing of facts.
Parents are also encouraged to increase interaction with their children by surfing the Internet together.
This, can play an important role in the children's psycho-emotional and socio-developmental progress.
Furthermore, it creates an emotional bond between the parents and children leading to better relationship and family harmony.
Han Jie
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times