A Smartphone may bring the world down to your fingertips. But the smart gadget may actually leave you dull for life!
According to the findings of a new study, toddlers who play on Smartphones are at higher risk of impaired brain development.
The study found that 25 percent of kids as old as two years old now own a Smartphone. The gadget, according to parents, is used as a learning tool for their kids.
According to researchers, infancy years are an important time for brain development. During these years the child’s brain learns several social, verbal, and learning skills. Encouraging children to use Smartphones, especially toddlers, could lead to early developmental problems.
“These years are the years that you need to be developing vocabulary, which means speaking and listening, so if you’re engaged in a gadget, you’re really minimizing that,” Psychiatrist Gail Saltz said.
“We’ve seen all kinds of data now on play and how important it is to, frankly, be bored and be stimulated to do imaginative play, what that does for building creativity,” she said.
Seconding the opinion, Randolph County resident Anita Sturms said, “I don’t think they (kids) should get Smartphones. They should get bicycles, anything else besides smartphones. I think kids that are that young don’t need them. They need to be outside playing, besides being in the house playing on a Smartphone.”
However, some parents who hand over Smartphones to their kids don’t see it as a problem.
“The way technology is moving along, if the kids can learn it at two, have the capability to learn it at two, then they should be able to see what they can do with it to keep up with today’s technology. The more you let them play with the technology, the quicker they learn it, and the more it helps them,” parent Daniel Moore said.
The experts suggest that the key is a balance between the two.
