“Cellphone has become the adult’s transitional object, replacing the toddler’s teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging.”

                                                                                                -Margaret Heffernan

Technology in our lives has alleviated hustle, reduced time and efforts for almost everything from yoga to tracking health. Smartphones being a major component of the omnipresent technological revolution, are the new way to connect, share, locate and unfortunately also a way for parents to keep their toddlers engaged when they have no time and energy to do the same. Most parents rather cannot thank mobile phones enough for they have reduced the time parents need to spend with their kids. So are mobile phones really a boon? Let us quickly analyse.

ASTONISHING FACTS ABOUT SMARTPHONES

• *Total estimated smartphone users are 1.8 billion
• *An average person checks their screen 150 times a day.
• *90% children by the age of 14 are already using smartphones.
• *25% children under 5 years of age use smartphones 

(*all data by October 2018)

But if smartphones are a boon why these figures are not anything close to an achievement?

Following are the 5 reasons:

1. Hampered brain development

The smartphones you have gifted your children anticipating that they will enhance their knowledge, exposure and help you in your job in being a parent has the potential to cause retarded brain development in between children of ages 0-2 years. The result can be cognitive delays, impulsivity and attention deficit.

2. Worse, altered brain wiring

The human brain has one of the most complex structuresand for it to function properly in adulthood, the circuits formed in childhood. When the screen time is more, the circuit wiring which is normally controlled by activities like writing, reading etc. are affected. In fact it also affects the ability of children to be affected by emotions. 

3. ADDICTION(Yes, that is indeed seriousK)

What does mobile phones do for you? EVERYTHING right? Good thing, right? Wrong. It is the reason why your children are glued to the screen even while indulged in important activities.Researches claim that as many as 50% teenagers feel addicted to their mobile phones. There are many trained Engineers hired by companies to create a phone and content for you to keep you more and more engaged.

4. … which is why the tantrums

Addiction to anything compels junkies to get the substance by doing anything in their control- beg, borrow, steal. In case of smart phone addiction, children throw a fit, cry or throw tantrums if the mobile is taken away from them. They also lose their ability to control themselves. According to a research published in CNN (2016), 36% parents feel that their child argue on a daily basis about mobile phones.

5. The Sleep Factor

The reason why children who use phone too much find it difficult to sleep is the blue light. The screens produce blue light. This blue light gives an illusion of day time to the brain and results in reduced melatoninsecretion- the hormone which regulates the sleep- wake up cycle. Lack of sleep causes more irritability or worse, more phone usage and thus commencement of a vicious cycle.

Smart phones are like Pandora’s box- you never know what is going to come next. On one hand lies the vast world your child is exposed to with it and on the other hand lies devastating consequences like altered brain patterns. 

Limiting the mobile usage irrespective of what age children are is the key to having children being safe from harmful effects of smartphones. 

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

                                                                                                            - Margaret Mead