By Kayla DeKraker
Another study once again sounds the alarm about the negative health effects of giving children smartphones too early.
The study by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that phone ownership before the teenage years could be linked to worse sleep, obesity and mental health problems.
The study followed 10,588 participants and observed at what age they first received a smart phone and the potential impacts.
“This is not something you can ignore for sure,” Ran Barzilay, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia professor of psychiatry and a child-adolescent psychiatrist, told The Washington Post of the findings.
The study found that “At age 12 years, compared with not owning a smartphone, smartphone ownership was associated with higher risk for depression, and insufficient sleep. Younger age of smartphone acquisition was associated with obesity and insufficient sleep.”
The findings continued, “At age 13 years, among 3,486 youth who did not own a smartphone at age 12 years, those who had acquired a smartphone in the past year had greater odds of reporting clinical-level psychopathology and insufficient sleep compared with those who had not after controlling for baseline mental health and sleep.”
Related: Are Social Media Restrictions for Kids Under 13 Ineffective?
These findings aren’t surprising, but they are a stark reminder of the dangers screens bring and especially social media. The United States office of the Surgeon General released a warning titled “Social Media and Youth Mental Health” which states that experts “cannot conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents.”
Psychology Today said of the warning, “The report showed that current evidence indicates social media provides benefits for some children and adolescents, but there are also many indicators that social media presents a serious risk of harm to the mental health of children and adolescents.”
So what should parents do to protect their children from social media harms? A good place to start is by delaying your child’s smartphone access until they’re at least 13 or until high school.
“Smartphones feel essential to daily life, but for kids they bring adult content, comparison, cyberbullying, dopamine issues and levels of stimulation their developing brain can’t regulate,” an Instagram post from neuroscientist TJ Power said.
He reiterated, “This isn’t about banning childhood tech. It’s about giving kids the grounding and confidence to meet it when they’re ready. For some families that means supporting a child who already has a phone; for others, it means waiting until the time is right.”
When should someone get a smartphone
Last year, Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, emphasized the dangers of smart devices and social media.
“What you do not want to do is give your child their own touchscreen device, because at least 50% will become enslaved to it, and they will miss out on most of their childhood,” he said.
For families who feel like tech has taken over, Haidt suggests three things:
- Removing screens from bedrooms.
- Keeping phones in a separate, visible location, like a countertop or drawer.
- Joining parents in requesting a phone-free school day.
Dealing with your family’s tech habits might be hard, but it will certainly be worth it in the long run.
Read Next: Are Social Media and Teen Suicide Linked?
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