Education Is Obligatory
Educate Your Children
For This World And
The Hereafter!
Gadgets Are Harmful For Kids
(M. Javed Naseem)
*************************************
You don’t need
gadgets, smart-phones or
electronic
equipment to educate your kids!
These gadgets
are harmful for young kids.
For real
education and guidance, open
the Holy Quran
and see what Allah has
prepared for
you, and how to get that!
*************************************
Education is the most important factor in life. The first
word revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) from Allah through Gabriel was
‘Iqra’ – meaning ‘Read’. Still there are millions of Muslims in the world who
cannot read and write. As a matter of fact, Reading and Writing are not the
‘education’ as such. They are tools or means through which we can educate
ourselves. Education opens your mind and heart and brings closer to your Lord
Creator. The more you know, the more you are convinced that you need God in
every step of life. You are nothing without Him. If we are not connected with
our base, we are lost.
When Muslims won their first war against unbelievers of Makkah
at Badr, they captured many as prisoners of war. The first condition set for
their release, was that each prisoner of war educate ten Muslims (teach them
reading, writing and counting). If not, then they should pay money as ransom to
win their freedom. That shows how important education was even centuries ago.
We measure success on the scale of wealth or material
possessions. Wealth and material possessions are temporary ornaments of this
worldly life only. A Muslim should always think about the Hereafter, because,
according to the Quran, that is the real and everlasting life. This world is a
trial for us. Our wealth is our offspring and the real wealth we can pass on to
our children is the wealth of education. If we invite to goodness and thwart
evil, that would be a great service to the next generation. It’s our
responsibility to put our children on the right path by providing them the real
guidance. That’s the only yardstick to measure our success in this world.
“…And turn unto Allah
together, O believers,
in order that you may
succeed!”
(al-Quran 24:31)
“And there may spring
from you a nation who
invite to goodness,
and enjoin right conduct and
forbid indecency. Such
are they who are successful.”
(al-Quran 3:104)
It’s our obligation to pass on the Divine message (Quranic
education) to children so that they get an idea of the purpose of their lives. There are lessons for them in the Quranic
stories of the Prophets. Those stories can definitely generate some interest
among the younger generation to learn more about their faith and the ‘way of
life’ – Islam. Above all, they will learn how to respect their parents and
elder folks.
Today, Muslims all over the world are in a sorry state of
affairs, and they can only blame themselves for that. We Muslims are not
discharging our duties diligently. Our irresponsible behavior and care-free
attitude is spoiling our children. But we blame the TV and the internet.
Instead of promoting the Quranic education and the Prophetic teachings among
our kids, we are pleased to see them adopting Western culture, customs, habits
and attitudes. We do not discharge our obligation of upbringing our children
according to the tenets of Islam. We did not pass on to them what we were
supposed to. The result is obvious. Our
young generation is lost in the material glamour of an alien culture. They have
gone astray.
If you are a real Muslim, you should never forget that on
the Day of Judgment you would be answering questions about the education and
upbringing of your children. The issue is a lot more serious than you think. Therefore,
try to bring God back into their lives. Discharge your obligations honestly and
correctly while you still can. Otherwise prepare yourself for the wrath of the Almighty!
We are commanded by Allah to enjoin good conduct and forbid indecency. But
unfortunately, today, most visitors to the sex and pornographic sites on the
internet are from the Muslim countries – and Pakistan is on top of the list.
You must have heard the comparison ‘like father, like son’ at
some point in your life. In most of the cases, it’s very much true. The
children are very good observers and they copy their parents or the people
around them. This is a natural instinct. We laugh when we see a 2-3-year old
child walking in its parent’s big shoes in the house, and we are filled with
affection for the child. This is the instinct I am talking about.
Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes always
observe, their ears always listen, and their minds always process the messages
they absorb. If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for
family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. The
wise parents realize that every day building-blocks are being laid for the
child’s future. It all begins at home.
Kids copy almost everything
and if the
parents are not careful
in what they
are doing, they
can destroy their children’s lives by being bad
role-models. Home is the first school before schooling and parents are the
first teachers. It is at home where the foundation of a child’s life is laid. A
good foundation makes a building solid and secure. It is called ‘Tarbiah’ (or
Tarbiat) or upbringing.
Tarbiah (upbringing) is an obligation in Islam. All parents
are REQUIRED to impart this training to their children, male or female. This is the duty of every Muslim parent. They
are responsible for their children’s education and good upbringing. This
teaches our children how to talk to
the elders; how
to respect others;
how to behave
in different situations; how to treat other human beings; and how to
handle a danger; not to mention how to
perform religious duties. It is at home that they learn how to react to certain
actions of others. We build our children’s personalities and form their
character. They learn the conduct from the parents. So, we should be careful!
“Lo, the noblest of
you, in the sight of Allah, is
the best in conduct. Lo,
Allah is Knower, Aware.”
(al-Quran 49:12)
Screen Time Is
Addicting
When we went to school, we didn’t have the luxury of
computers, tablets, smart phones and other electronic equipment. We got our
education from the parents, teachers and the library books. Today, we want to
buy every new gadget for our kids. We even give our smart phones to 3-4 years
old kids to play with. And we take pride in that. We don’t realize that these
electronic gadgets can harm our kids physically, damage their abilities and
hamper their natural growth. Some of the damage can be for life.
Nicole Crawford, a women's fitness coach
and an expert on Yoga, Family and Kids, narrates: Moodiness, restlessness,
strange cravings, incoherent speech, an inability to focus on tasks that
require concentration and emotional outbursts – these qualities may be used to
describe a person on drugs or trying to quit smoking. They
also perfectly express what my four-year-old daughter is like after a two hour
Disney movie.
There's a reason for that. Screen time has a
powerful effect on children, not to mention adults. Finding a way to
combat screen time in children, who don't have inboxes to tend to and spreadsheets
to create, is a bit simpler: Lay down the law and set limits.
From: Psychology Today
What ‘Screen-Time’ Can
Really Do
To Kids’ Brains!
Too much at the worst possible age can have lifetime
consequences.
By Liraz Margalit, Ph.D (Behind Online Behavior)
Screen time is an inescapable reality of modern childhood, with kids of every age spending hours upon hours in front of iPads, smart-phones and televisions.
That’s not always a bad thing: Educational apps and TV shows are great ways for children to sharpen their developing brains and hone their communication skills—not to mention the break these gadgets provide harried parents. But tread carefully: A number of troubling studies connect delayed cognitive development in kids with extended exposure to electronic media. The US Department of Health & Human Services estimates that American children spend a whopping 7-hours a day in front of electronic media. Other statistics reveal that kids as young as two regularly play iPad games and have playroom toys that involve touch screens.
Saturation and
long-term consequences
When very small children get hooked on tablets and smart-phones,
says Dr. Aric Sigman, an associate fellow of the British Psychological
Society and a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society of Medicine, they can
unintentionally cause permanent damage to their still-developing brains.
Too much screen time too soon, he says, “is the very thing impeding
the development of the abilities that parents are so eager to foster through
the tablets. The ability to focus, to concentrate, to lend attention, to sense
other people’s attitudes and communicate with them, to build a large
vocabulary—all those abilities are harmed.”
Put more simply, parents who jump to screen time in a bid to give their kids
an educational edge may actually be doing significantly more harm than good—and
they need to dole out future screen time in an age-appropriate matter.Between birth and age three, for example, our brains develop quickly and are particularly sensitive to the environment around us. In medical circles, this is called the critical period, because the changes that happen in the brain during these first tender years become the permanent foundation upon which all later brain function is built. In order for the brain’s neural networks to develop normally during the critical period, a child needs specific stimuli from the outside environment. These are rules that have evolved over centuries of human evolution, but—not surprisingly—these essential stimuli are not found on today’s tablet screens. When a young child spends too much time in front of a screen and not enough getting required stimuli from the real world, her development becomes stunted.
And not just for a while. If the damage happens during these crucial early years, its results can affect her forever.
Much of the issue lies with the fact that what makes tablets and iPhones so great—dozens of stimuli at your fingertips, and the ability to process multiple actions simultaneously—is exactly what young brains do not need.
Tablets are the ultimate shortcut tools: Unlike a mother reading a story to a child, for example, a smartphone-told story spoon-feeds images, words, and pictures all at once to a young reader. Rather than having to take the time to process a mother’s voice into words, visualize complete pictures and exert a mental effort to follow a story line, kids who follow stories on their smartphones get lazy. The device does the thinking for them, and as a result, their own cognitive muscles remain weak.
Trouble making friends
The brain’s frontal lobe is the area responsible for
decoding and comprehending social interactions. It is in this corner of the
mind that we empathize with others, take in nonverbal cues while talking to
friends and colleagues, and learn how to read the hundreds of unspoken
signs—facial expression, tone of voice, and more—that add color and depth to
real-world relationships.
So how and when does the brain’s frontal lobe develop? Not surprisingly, the
most crucial stage is in early childhood, during that same critical period, and
it's dependent on authentic human interactions. So if your young child is
spending all of his time in front of an iPad instead of chatting and playing
with teachers and other children, his empathetic abilities—the near-instinctive
way you and I can read situations and get a feel for other people—will be
dulled, possibly for good.
************
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.