Alarming Report Released on Children’s Use of Mobile Devices

An alarming report from the Pediatric Academic Societies has revealed that the use of mobile devices by young children and even babies has skyrocketed and will likely have a large negative effect on growing children.

As reported on MSN’s Medical Daily, children as young as 6 months old are being exposed to mobile devices up to 30 minutes at a time. Though the true effects of the usage are not known, the stats are certainly concerning considering that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not using any media, including television, for all children under the age of 2.

The survey asked 370 parents what kind of mobile media they owned, what they used it for, and how often their children used the devices. The results indicated that over 50% of children under 1 watched television and 36% of infants had touched or scrolled down a tablet/cell phone screen.

The numbers increased as children got older, “as 26 percent of 2-year-olds engaged in use, and 38 percent of 4-year-olds used devices for an hour a day, minimum.”

The most frequent reasons cited for giving the devices to children were to complete household chores and calm a child.

What rules do you have in place for your children when it comes to using electronic devices?