Children of parents who spend too much time on their smartphones are more likely to have behavioural problems later on, according to a new study on "technoference" out of the University of Michigan and Illinois State University that surveyed almost 200 families.
“You go around Manchester and Salford and see unbelievable attempts by children to communicate with the adult they are with but who is oblivious to them because they have headphones on. I find it very distressing,” said Michelle Morris, one of Britain’s leading speech and language therapists and a consultant at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Recently, Manchester became the first public health authority in the U.K. to launch a campaign against the impacts of digital addiction on the communication between parents and children. According to the Telegraph, the campaign will include texts to parents suggesting times during which they could put their smartphones away to talk with their children, including during bath time, meal time and before bed.
“The attempt to communicate goes unrewarded and the child could, in time, learn that there’s no point in talking. For little children, it is these multiple interactions with an adult through which it learns language and how to speak,” explains Michelle Morris, one of Britain’s leading speech and language therapists and a consultant at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.
Read more about the impact on children of their parents' smartphone addiction.