Al-Madina newspaper

MANY families nowadays have a tendency to give their children cellphones or tablets to keep them busy. Handheld devices now play a huge part in the lives of our children. Most parents are unaware of the negative effects that these devices can have on their children.

This is especially the case when our children become addicted to technology, which it seems is the only way for them to calm down.

Al-Madina newspaper recently published eight international studies showing seven serious illnesses that children could develop as a result of the extensive use of handheld devices.

Some studies show that smartphones and tablets could ruin children’s innocence, making them victims of several physical and mental diseases that could ruin their future.

One of the studies was by Oxford University about communication. It showed that smartphones cause children to develop problems with communicating with those around them by 53 percent.

A study by the University of London showed that tablets and smartphones reduce the number of hours children sleep. It also showed that every minute a child spends facing the screen decreases his or her sleeping time by 15.6 minutes.

According to a study by Japan’s Ministry of Education, the more time that students spend using smartphones and tablets, the less chance they will have of being successful at school. Also, a study by a hospital that specializes in speech impediments in Canada showed that children who spend a long time on their phones develop issues with their speech and an inability to express themselves properly.

Every 30 minutes that a child spends using tablets and smartphones puts them at a 50 percent higher risk of developing speech delays or a disability in orally expressing themselves.

A study by St. Louis University showed that the flickering of bright lights in the video games children play could actually cause epilepsy. There are many other studies and I hope that they spread awareness among parents.

Some of these devices do the job of parenting children instead of actual humans doing it. Children seek guidance and advice from technology and, as a result, we should not underestimate the effects of these devices on our children.