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| Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine found that use of interactive screen time under 30 months could also impair a child's development of the skills needed for maths and science. Photo: Alamy |
Joanna Walters in New York, The Guardian, 2 February 2015
Journal commentary warns that using a tablet or smartphone to divert a child’s attention could be detrimental to “internal mechanisms of self-regulation”
Using a smartphone or iPad to pacify a toddler may impede their ability to learn self-regulation, according to researchers.
In a commentary for the journal Pediatrics, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine reviewed available types of interactive media and raised “important questions regarding their use as educational tools”, according to a news release.
The researchers said that though the adverse effects of television and video on very small children was well understood, society’s understanding of the impact of mobile devices on the pre-school brain has been outpaced by how much children are already using them.
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