A recent study by the Boston University School of Medicine studied screen time among kids under 30 months.
According to the results of new research that have been published in a peer reviewed journal, using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets in order to divert the attention of a child could end up impairing their development on a social and emotional level.
Primarily, it was found that this type of use of gadgets holds back a child’s ability to learn self control.
The research, which was conducted by a team at the Boston University School of Medicine found that when mobile devices are used by children at a very young age, the outcome of that exposure on their behavior and development is entirely unknown. The researchers behind the study cautioned that while the impact of video and television on very young children has been extensively studied and a solid understanding has been generated, mobile technology should not be considered to be the same, and its impact on a young brain is not yet known.
Preschool children are using mobile devices at a rate that is far greater than society’s understanding of its impact.
The warning that was made by the researchers in this study asked the following question: “If these devices become the predominant method to calm and distract young children, will they be able to develop their own internal mechanisms of self-regulation?”
Moreover, the study also found that when kids used mobile gadgets under the age of three years old, it could also create an impairment to their ability to develop the skills that are required for learning math and science. This study was published by the team of Jenny Radesky, a clinical instructor in developmental-behavioral pediatrics at BU School of Medicine, in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal. Within the publication, she asked parents to boost the “direct human to human interaction” to which their children are exposed.
Radesky also went on to say that parents should aim to increase the amount of family interaction that is occurring “unplugged”. She suggested that younger kids may be able to obtain meaningful benefit from “a designated family hour” of quality time that they spent without any mobile devices or television, per day.
