Shutterstock
Are kids getting more and more precocious each generation? It seems so. According to a new study, more than a third of kids under one year old are already using smartphones and tablets.
But moms and dads, stop handing your smartphones to your kids! Experts say this can damage your child’s development. Skip those learning apps for kids.”The
British government warnedin 2013 that too much on-screen time causes emotional problems for kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of screen devices among children under age 2,” reports
The Washington Post.
But despite these warnings, the new
surveyby pediatric researchers at the Einstein Healthcare Network found that kids as young as six months old are playing around with smartphones and tablets. And the majority of the kids are minority and low-income. The study polled 370 parents of children ages six months to four years old as they visited a pediatric clinic for a low-income, minority community in Philadelphia. Of the respondents, 74 percent were African American and 14 percent were Hispanic.
The study found that among kids younger than one, 52 percent watched television on mobile devices, 36 percent were allowed by parents to scroll the screen, 15 percent actually used apps while 12 percent played video games. And almost a quarter of the kids under a year old had already called someone using a smartphone.
A majority of two year olds were using cellphones or tablets, according to the summary.
“We didn’t expect children were using the devices from the age of 6 months,” said Hilda Kabali, a third-year resident at Einstein who led the survey. “Some children were on the screen for as long as 30 minutes.”
These numbers are up from a 2013, Internet survey of 1,463 parents that found among kids under 2, 38 percent had used smartphones or tablets.
Experts are totally against this trend, and say parents should encourage their kids having personal interaction and put down the digital devices. “In addition to persuading parents to waste money on useless products, marketing products for babies as teaching numbers and letters sends a troubling and potentially harmful message to parents about learning and how babies should spend their time,” said Susan Linn, director for the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, last year.
Thoughts?
Comment Disclaimer: Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN
