Are smartphones suitable for children? The "Canadian Paediatric Society" and the "American Academy of Pediatrics" advise against it. They recommend that children up to two years of age have no contact with modern technologies. Between three and five years, parents should limit time with the smartphone to one hour per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Older children should use the device for up to two hours.
The reality is different. Teenagers cannot do without their mobile devices. They use mobile phones five times as often as recommended. The result: serious consequences for the child's development (Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012, Kaiser Foundation 2010).
The American occupational therapist Cris Rowan goes so far in her Zone’in Fact Sheet as to advocate for a ban on these devices for children under twelve. She substantiates her views with ten research-based facts, which we list below:
1. Brain damage
The brain continues to grow steadily until the age of 21. External stimuli influence development. Excessive stimulation leads to cognitive delays, impaired learning ability, restricted executive functions, attention deficits, increased impulsivity, and a declining ability for self-regulation (Small 2008, Pagini 2010).
2. Developmental delays
New technologies lead to a decrease in physical activity. This causes developmental delays. In numbers, this means that one in three children shows poor academic performance and reduced reading ability at the start of school (HELP EDI Maps 2013).
3. Video games and television lead to obesity
Studies state that children with technical devices in their bedrooms are thirty percent more likely to be obese than the control group (Tremblay 2005, Feng 2011). Of these, another thirty percent suffer from diabetes. Increased body weight leads to stroke and heart attack and shortens life expectancy (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2010).
4. Sleep deprivation due to too much technology
Many children use smartphones, tablets, and the like in their bedrooms. Parents do not monitor the use of these devices. This leads to sleep deprivation, which has a harmful effect on everyday school life (Boston College 2012).
5. Mental health problems due to smartphones and the like?
It has been proven that excessive use of technology causes mental illnesses. These include attachment disorders, anxiety, depression, autism, psychoses, bipolar disorders, attention deficits, and problematic behaviors (Mentonzi 2011, Bristol University 2010, Robinson 2008, Liberatore 2011, Shin 2011).
6. Aggression in adolescents
Children are confronted with explicit sex and violence scenes on the internet and television. They trigger aggression (Huesmann, 2007).
7. Poor concentration due to high media consumption
Another fact states that frequent use of smartphones and similar devices leads to poor concentration, attention disorders, and poor memory (Christakis 2004, Small 2008).
8. Addicted to television and phones?
Increasingly, children show signs of addiction to modern technologies. One in eleven children exhibits this mental illness (Gentile 2009).
9. Protection against harmful radiation
Electrical devices emit radiation. Mobile phones are considered potentially carcinogenic. For children, the risk is far greater due to their higher sensitivity to external influences (Globe and Mail 2011).
10. No sense of sustainability
Rowan views the youth's handling of technical devices critically. They use them in excessive amounts and do not focus on sustainability (Rowan 2010). She points to a new way of dealing with technologies and the greatest possible reduction in their use.
