Don’t use your mobile and talk to your children, urge nurseries

PARENTS have been banned from using their mobile phones at Scots nurseries in a bid to ‘encourage’ families to speak to each other instead.

The clampdown prevents parents and guardians using the devices while dropping off or picking up their children.

It came after a report showed a link between excessive screentime and delays in language and speech ability among children as young as 18 months.

The ‘no phone’ policy has been rolled out at two nurseries in Ayrshire so far, but will be expanded to others.

Just weeks ago, the first official guidance on social media and screentime was issued by Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, telling parents to ban mobile phones from the dinner table and children’s bedrooms.

Dorothy McAvoy of East Ayrshire Council said: ‘We’re committed to promoting language development and have worked closely with NHS colleagues to make sure we have a communications champion in every Early Childhood Centre.

‘We encourage parents to put away their phones at pick-up times and talk to their child about their day, as this promotes positive relationships and language development.’

The policy, in place at Early Childhood Centres in Barshare, Cumnock and Newmilns, near Kilmarnock, was revealed at a meeting of the authority’s cabinet and followed a report that showed a gap between the language development of youngsters who have access to electronic devices and those that do not.

The report states: ‘Parents are always using devices therefore children become interested in them. Children watching something on a screen is a very passive experience: there’s no interaction or turn taking conversations.

‘Therefore, focus on screens may interfere with the opportunity to have social face-to-face interactions – crucial for early language development.’