Psychologist Samanta Elsener M.Psi, a member of the Indonesian Psychological Association (HIMPSI), emphasized the importance of developing children's self-control skills to prevent them from excessive gadget use.
Samanta said that although the ideal time to play with gadgets for entertainment purposes is a maximum of two hours per day, in reality many children and teenagers still find loopholes to use gadgets outside of parental supervision.
"If we talk about the ideal (time for playing with gadgets), the maximum is two hours, but we know that children and teenagers like to steal . So they've become very creative, they can steal time at school, while bathing, and so on when not under parental supervision," said Samanta in South Jakarta, Thursday.
Samanta explained that the key to controlling gadget use is not just time regulations, but also children's ability to develop self-control.
According to him, self-control is formed when parents actively engage in dialogue with their children to remind them of the time limits for playing with gadgets.
"So, it really comes back to how we can teach them self-control by talking to them. When we talk to them, they understand, and ultimately, that becomes their self-control. If they have two hours (of screen time), then it's two hours," he said.
