Unfortunately, our only agenda in recent months has been the Coronavirus. Within the scope of measures taken due to the rapid spread of the virus and its potentially fatal effects, quarantine days continue for those over 65 years old and children under 20 years old. In order to maintain the educational lives of our children, both public and private schools continue their education programs online at home.
The screen times of our children, which were already too long in their remaining time from school in their daily lives before the pandemic, have increased a lot due to both online education and the prolongation of the time they spend at home. As we have repeatedly emphasized before, spending long periods of time in front of phones, tablets, televisions (3T) can cause the development of many neurological and psychiatric diseases.
Disorders such as epilepsy (seizures), attention deficit hyperactivity, migraine, autism are seen in certain proportions among our children. However, in our children with long screen times, both the frequency of disease increases and complaints become more pronounced in diagnosed cases.
For example, prolongation of screen times in our children who are under drug treatment with a diagnosis of epilepsy increases the frequency and duration of seizures. Recently, the number of cases applying to pediatric neurology clinics with complaints of seizures has increased. In these days when we are experiencing the fear of Coronavirus, it is of course important to take precautions and pay attention to isolation. However, while paying attention to these rules, we should not invite other diseases. We should keep our children away from screens as much as possible.
