Children develop during their young years, and start discovering and learning their personality and manners that will last throughout their lifetime. In the modern era, technology influences children greatly, as their world revolves around it. Smartphones are one of the most influential aspects of technology, and can leave a lasting impact on individuals and how they behave. As an individual’s childhood is extremely important due to the fact that people develop their brains, mental health, and social skills during this time, smartphone use during an individual’s childhood can greatly affect how they act. The effects of smartphone use on children’s development brings up the issue of whether or not parents should limit their children’s smartphone use.
Children’s smartphone use has risen dramatically over the past few years, raising concern over whether or not parents should limit smartphone use. Smartphone use is a prevalent issue among children, as the demographics of the issue are discussed in the educational article, “How Do Smartphones Affect Child Psychology?”, by Amy Williams. The article describes that 70% of 11-12 year olds own a smartphone, 90% of 14 year olds own a smartphone, and 25% of 2-5 year olds own a smartphone. Extensive research has been done on this issue, as a growing proportion of children are beginning to own smartphones. Williams describes concern among this issue, as she states that “face-to-face interactions are the primary ways they gain knowledge and learn.” I agree with Williams statement, as I remember as a child I learned the most social skills and developed my mental thinking through face-to-face interactions, as smartphones can’t cover in person social skills. When children use smartphones and experience less face-to-face interactions, they can’t learn simple social skills, such as how to have a conversation efficiently by reading other people’s nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions and body posture. By trading face-to-face interactions for smartphone use, children are missing important parts of their development phase. The lack of in person communication can greatly weaken an individual’s communication skills for their life. Parents need to make sure that their child is experiencing enough face-to-face interactions in order to ensure that their child is properly developing social skills as well as stabilizing their mental health. Overuse of smartphones takes away from children’s time to explore and learn social skills through in person interactions, causing their development to be negatively affected.
Smartphone use can also cause problems among children’s sleep schedules. Children often use their smartphones during the night in order to cope with boredom. However, the overuse of smartphones during the night can disrupt an individual’s sleep schedule and contribute to sleep deprivation. In the article, “How Smartphones Are Affecting The Mind And Body Of Your Children,” by Elise Moreau, the correlation between sleep deprivation and smartphone overuse is explained by the blue light that is emitted from smartphones, causing the human body to think it’s still daytime. The human body becomes confused due to the blue light, and decreases the output of melatonin, causing a disruption in the sleep cycle. As a child, I didn’t own a smartphone until high school, and wasn’t able to use technology at night. I would always be asleep by 10 P.M., but when a smartphone was introduced into my life, my sleep schedule continuously got less consistent, and I started staying up later due to not being tired. These irregular sleep patterns directly correlate to smartphone overuse at night and sleep deprivation. Parents should be limiting their child’s smartphone use at night, as a habit of creating a good sleeping cycle is essential at a young age, as sleep is a big part of a child’s development stage.
Individuals may have a different view on the issue of limiting children’s smartphone use. Some people believe that the benefits that stem from smartphone use are extremely beneficial and can improve a child’s early years. An example of this argument is stated in the article “Smartphones And Children: What Are The Pros And Cons”, where Helen O’Connor states that her children use smartphones frequently, and believes that the smartphones relaxe her children, causing them to have less tantrums and behave better. However, this overuse of smartphones is actually the root of the issue, as children need to be interacting with other people rather than spending their day distracted by their smartphones. Peadar Maxwell, a child psychologist explains this predicament, as smartphones can provide distractions that allow children to be too distracted to fight or misbehave, this causes a child’s brain to not develop properly. Smartphones do not contribute to the understanding of the nuances of communication, as smartphones can’t properly demonstrate emotion or body expressions. The negative impact of smartphone use on children’s development outweighs the positive impact that smartphone use brings.
Children develop and learn habits during their childhood that will stick with them for the rest of their life. The number of children owning a smartphone is constantly growing, and smartphone use greatly influences a child’s development. Smartphone overuse can cause children to not experience enough face-to-face interactions, inhibiting their development of social and communication skills, as well as correlate to worse sleep quality and sleep deprivation. The positive impact that comes with smartphone use is overpowered by the negative influence that smartphone use can have on children. Parents should be aware of the negative influence that smartphones have on their children, and should limit their children’s smartphone use.
Sources:
https://psychcentral.com/lib/how-do-smartphones-affect-childhood-psychology/
https://www.lifehack.org/373649/how-smartphones-are-affecting-the-mind-and-body-your-children-2
https://www.everymum.ie/kids/child-health/smartphones-and-children-what-are-the-pros-and-cons/
Smartphone Addiction 