The attention of parents to their smartphones and their effects on the behavior of their children
Technology is here to stay, and not just for the new generations. Computers, tablets and smartphones are also well established among the Adults. Like many young people, numerous adults also focus too much attention on their electronic devices. Something that has negative effects on the daily life of families, such as the neglect of the education of the smallest of the house.
To learn more about this influence, Illinois State University, has conducted an investigation focused on verifying the relationship between the use given by parents to their smartphones and the behavior of their children. A behavior that can worsen the more attention the parents pay to the screens and not to what they have close to them.
Overlooking children
The State University of Illinois brought together 168 mothers already 165 parents of small children from 170 different homes. The researchers conducted a questionnaire to these adults on the use of their smartphones, tablets, laptops and other technologies. The second question focused on the state of the family relationship and whether some alterations in the behavior of the youngest children had been appreciated.
At the same time, parents were asked to rate their level of dependence on these devices, based on the ability to resist checking messages and worrying about calls. Study participants also reported with what frequency the devices captured their attention when they should be busy with their children in some other way.
About half of the parents said that technology normally interrupted the time What happened to their children three or more times a day? For their part, 24% said that this happened twice a day, and 17% reported that this happened once a day. By sex, the mothers were the ones who perceived that the use of the smartphone was more problematic than in the case of men.
Tantrums and tears
Regarding the behavior of the children, the parents also answered questions about the frequency with which their children were angry, they complainedThey were easily frustrated, had tantrums or showed signs of restlessness and hyperactivity in the previous two months.
The data showed that even a few low or apparently "normal"Attention to smartphones in a family context was associated with more behavioral problems in the children of the participants." Parents who completely ignore their children are often seen, and very often this leads to bad behavior because the needs of children are being completely ignored, "said Susan Neuman, a professor of early childhood education and literacy at the University of New York during the presentation of these results
"Children need interaction between parents and children, they are social animals", says Neuman, who adds that" when parents isolate themselves playing with the telephone, children do not receive that basic human need, attention at particular times ".
Shareting risk
Not only do you have to take into account use time that parents use their smartphones, but the way of employment. At this point, shareting is considered one of the biggest risks in this field. With the arrival of new technologies and social networks, the pride of many parents is sometimes shown through photos and publications on these platforms. A content that practically makes the children's lives exposed on the internet by skipping the recommended limits in the web world.
Stacey B. Steinberg, a professor of law school at the University of Florida, has also tried hatering in one of her studies. In this work he has deepened in the reasons that lead parents to share all this information of their children in social networks. Of all the causes, the one that stands out the most is the feeling of receiving a positive comment from other parents.
This feeling after receiving a "like"by another person is what makes an adult feel in the power to continue making these publications forgetting the possible dangers of this situation:
"Cyberspace offers many positive feelings to the parents. When they comment on their children, they receive positive responses and this makes them feel supported. But this takes to the extreme of feeding the ego and exhibitionism can be a risk that distorts reality and makes it difficult to think beyond oneself, including the protection of one's own child, "explains Professor Steinberg.
Damián Montero
