Parents Who Spend Too Much Time On Their Phone Affect Their Children's Development

Aug 22, 2018

As a parent, your number one priority should be the health of your children. When your kids are in their adolescent years, everything that they see and hear has a big impact on their development. According to Raising Children, the first five years of a child's life are the most impactful to the adults that they grow up to be. Essentially, this means that you need to display good habits during this time in order for your children to grow up and be productive adults in our society. Due to technological advancements, many parents in this generation will have smartphones before and during parenthood.

If you are addicted to your phone as a parent, there are some negative things that can occur regarding the development of your child. In this article, you are going to learn about a few reasons why you should put the phone down when your toddlers are around.  

Some kids will simply behave better than others, but there are many things that you can do to promote good behavior in your children. As a parent, make sure that you don't spend too much time staring at the screen of a smart device. A study from the University of Michigan showed that parents who spent more time on their smartphone or other smart device had a greater chance of their children misbehaving. The reason behind this idea points to the fact that children feel less important when you are not paying attention to them.

As most of us know, smart devices do a good job of drawing our attention to them. When you are spending time on your smart device, it means that you are probably not giving your children your full attention. If this continues, there may be a lack of connection between you and your child. This can be a major cause of misbehavior in children, as they feel they do not owe it to their parents to act right. During the first couple years of your child's life, be sure to direct your attention to them rather than to your phone, especially if they ask you. In doing so, you can promote good behavior as well as an increase in the overall happiness of your child.

Being addicted to your phone is a real issue and many people who have this problem struggle to find alternative ways to spend their time. When it comes to ending any addiction, you will need motivation as well as a solid reason to stop. On top of the fact that being on your phone too much can harm the development of your child, it also poses a few physical health risks for yourself. Let's discuss a few of the negative things that can happen when you are a phone addict. 

Staring at a screen that is close to your face can be bad for your eyes and vision.

According to studies have shown that excessive use of cell phones could be linked to a greater risk of developing anxiety and depression.

Spending too much time on your phone could mean that you are not spending enough time exercising. It takes very little physical effort to interact with smart devices. 

When you use a smartphone, you typically will look down on it when you are using it. This has been known to cause problems with the neck and spine and could potentially throw off your posture. 

Students who use their phone during school could potentially prevent themselves from learning properly as it can be a serious distraction. 

Cell phones and smart devices emit a blue light which can throw off your sleep cycle and make it harder to fall asleep. 

As you now know, there are many reasons to consider ending the addiction you may have with your smartphone. Not only will limiting your screen time help with the development of your kids, it will also benefit your physical and mental health. 

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation with your doctor. Your health is important to us!