Smartphone Stunts Brain Development in Kids

Playing with smartphone may hinder toddler's brain development. According to a new study, 25 per cent of kids as old as two years old and younger have their own smartphones, which parents say is used as a learning tool for their kids.  Toddlers who play with smartphones are at an increased risk of impeding their brain development, experts have warned.

According to the experts, it is too early for children to be utilising this type of technology and that the kids are not learning but are just being given the phone as a distraction. They were concerned that smartphone use at such a young age can impede early development in areas that would impact the child for the rest of their lives.

Childhood is a time for serious brain development and the use of technology could make them face problems with their basic social, verbal and learning skills.

Psychiatrist Gail Saltz said that 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 minimising that. 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. Therefore, parents should realise that a smartphone is "structured time" and does not allow for free thinking.

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