Children complain parents spend too much time on their devices.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: As if stealing attention spans across all ages weren’t bad enough, psychologists are now warning that adult cell phone usage may be detrimental to children’s mental health.
“Children of all ages use the same adjectives to describe how they feel when they are competing with screens for their parent’s attention,” said Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical psychologist and Harvard researcher. “Angry, sad, frustrating, and lonely were the words used over and over,” she told CBS Sacramento.Follow @ambazaarmag
Online security company AVG/Location Labs bolstered the notion, finding children said their parents spend as much or more time with their devices, than they do with them.
The survey found more than half (54 percent) of kids feel their parents check their devices too often, and more than a third (32 percent) said they feel unimportant when their parents are distracted by their phones.
As Susan Stiffelman, a family therapist, put it in The Huffington Post, today’s parents are unprepared “to deal with the intense pull and highly addictive nature of what the online world has to offer. As parents, we have an opportunity to guide our kids so that they can learn habits that help them make use of the digital world, without being swallowed whole by it.”
“I feel like I’m just boring. I’m boring my dad because he will take any text, any call, any time, even on the ski lift,” said one young girl Steiner-Adair interviewed for her book, “The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age.”
Jenny S. Radesky, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center who with two colleagues observed 55 groups of parents and children at fast-food restaurants, noted that 40 of the adults immediately took out mobile devices and used them throughout most of the meal. In many cases more attention was paid to the devices than to the children, reported The Telegram.
The researchers also found that when parents were absorbed in their own devices, the children were more likely to act out, apparently in an attempt to get their parents’ attention.
Experts say it’s not a matter of cutting your smartphone or tablet out of your life completely, but setting aside time, such as dinner, when the gadgets are put away.
Steiner-Adair advises parents “make time for real-life activities with your kids that let them know that they’re worth your time and undivided attention. Do things together that nourish your relationship.”
1 Comment
Glad to see that people are becoming more and more aware. One over-looked way to help children improve their mental health is by using hypnosis.
http://www.northjerseyhypnosis.com/about-hypnosis/benefits-of-hypnosis/hypnosis-for-children/