A new commentary study suggests that handing children tablets or smartphones to pacify them during tantrums, instead of having them calm down on their own, might impede their emotional development.
It is normal to see even young children holding tablets or smartphones nowadays. There is also a long-standing debate on whether these devices negatively affect the development and behavior of children who use them. But researchers at Boston University Medical Center might shed light on the link between devices and children development and behavior.
Earlier studies suggest that e-books and educational applications aid in the vocabulary and reading comprehension of children of preschool age or older.
The researchers reviewed several studies to determine whether the use of tablets and smartphones to pacify children can affect how these children control their emotions. Their analysis showed that these devices may replace the hands-on activities that children need to develop their sensorimotor and visual-motor skills that they need to learn math and science, as well as impede the development of empathy, social and problem-solving skills that they usually learn through face-to-face interactions.
"It has been well-studied that increased television time decreases a child's development of language and social skills. Mobile media use similarly replaces the amount of time spent engaging in direct human-human interaction," explained corresponding author Jenny Radesky, MD, clinical instructor in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and a former fellow in pediatrics at Boston Medical Center, in a news release.
Radesky suggests that parents should examine first whether the mobile applications, that their children are using, have educational value. But for optimal result, nothing beats "family time."
Occupational therapist Lindsay Marzoli agrees with the commentary because constant use of touchscreens might delay the muscle development the children need for writing, according to The Telegraph.
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
