Being distracted by your phone can affect your child’s development

Are you addicted to your phone?

Do you feel like your constantly checking your phone for the next update, the latest post or just mindlessly scrolling for hours? If your answer is yes, then you might want to read on. According to an anthropological study published in Pediatrics, it found that being distracted by your phone can actually impede your child's development. According to the article, researchers found that children are more likely to act out for attention if their parents are glued to their mobile devices. Being absorbed in your phone not only interferes with your child's learning experience but also makes them feel neglected. One of the lead researchers; Dr. Jenny Radesky found that children need face-to-face interactions, so when a parent deprives them of that by talking to them while looking at their phone, they are affecting the growth of that child. She said:

"They learn language, they learn about their own emotions and they learn how to regulate them. They learn by watching us; how to have a conversation, how to read other people's facial expressions. And if that's not happening, children are missing out on important development."

The same survey also found that nearly one-third of children surveyed feel unimportant when their parents become distracted by their devices. So maybe it's time we put down the phone and change that statistic.