Distraction is dangerous
You wouldn’t dream of using your phone or tablet while driving, but what about when you are parenting your child? How present are you really when you’re plugged into the great world wide web?
Your cellphone is like an extension of your body and it has become hard to remember or imagine what our lives were like without these nifty devices. Your smartphone can do so many useful and fun things, it almost seems strange to call it a phone as making and receiving calls is probably its most mundane function. We’re even more enthralled by our tablets, and any parent will tell you that our children share our fixation! Some of them even use more than one device at a time – watching a video on the tablet while chatting on social media and on a phone at the same time, for instance.
PLUGGED IN = NOT REALLY PRESENT
As mobile devices become increasingly absorbing and pervasive, questions arise about the effect of these devices on our interactions with our children.
Remember, accidents happen fast! Take an honest look at your habits with your phone and tablet. In the little moments when caregivers are focused elsewhere, a lot can happen, the same as with car accidents. There is good reason why it is illegal to phone or SMS while you drive.
In a paper published in the US journal Pediatrics, Boston researchers described what they called the first ever investigation into the topic. Researchers secretly observed customers at a fast food restaurant. They reported that parents were so preoccupied with either their smartphones or their children that they did not know they were being watched. A second interesting observation was that the parents who were the most absorbed in their technology, often responded harshly to a child’s misbehaviour. One woman kicked her child under the table and another pushed a boy’s hands away when he tried to make her look up from her screen.
Researchers also said that the caregivers were most absorbed in the devices when typing or scrolling through information, compared to when they were talking on the phone. During phone calls they could at least still watch their children and make eye contact. Taking these facts into consideration, it can be deduced that many injuries our children sustain can be prevented simply by putting the phone or tablet down. So ask yourself: Am I distracted by my cellphone while I am responsible for the care of my own or other children? If the answer is yes, it’s time to change your mobile habits.