Children & smart phones

Parents and carers of children and young people are invited to Kettlefields Primary School this evening for a workshop facilitated by a speaker from the 'Smartphone Free Childhood' campaign group.

This is of real interest to me, as in clinical practice I often see issues arising with technology five, ten, or fifteen years downstream from those early decisions to give a child a phone or device whilst the grown ups grabbed a few minutes of peace. Of course no one intends to give their child anything that might cause harm at a later stage, but it does get harder, once the genie is out of the bottle, to entice it back in.

Some of the difficulties I see amongst my adolescent clients may be partly attributable to the early and constant availability of technology. It is common these days to meet young people with gaming addictions, or poor body image (dysmorphia) and low self esteem, and others whose mood has been impacted by online bullying, anxiety around missing out. I have also worked with young people who have been groomed and/or exposed to age-inappropriate content, which can cause a lot of distress. And it's not just mental well-being that is impacted by excessive screentime.

It is well known that during the first 25 years or so of life, the human brain is more plastic than at any other time - the neurons that 'fire together wire together', and if our brains are on a exclusive diet of Roblox and Tiktok, it will impact our development on so many levels.

Letting younger children use smartphones for several hours a day impacts the development of fine motor skills (i.e. they're not using pencils or pens to make marks, or strengthening hands and fingers with other creative activities such as 'cutting out', 'colouring in', sewing etc.).

Similarly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns that the prevalence of tech has impacted the amount of time that our kids - from pre-schoolers up - are active, which massively impacts their physical health.

On a cognitive level, some studies suggest that the short form content available to us all on Instagram, Youtube etc. is simply rewiring our brains so that we have shorter attention spans. Whilst there may not be a causal link between screentime and positive ADHD diagnoses, the fast pace and constant stimulation of social media content may make the condition worse for some young people.

As a psychotherapeutic counsellor, I am also mindful of technology's impact on family relationships - as we know that devices can be very distracting, and this leads to a sense of people not being psychologically present with each other. Shared experiences may not feel so connecting if all parties are simultaneously interacting with their smartphones.

Despite these and other concerns, it is important to acknowledge the positive impacts of technology. From being able maintain familial and social relationships over distance, to having huge quantities of information at one's fingertips, dealing deftly with life admin, and having access to vast libraries of music and entertainment in your pocket - our children will be using smartphones at some point, and would be massively disadvantaged if they did not. However, like most things in life, it's about striking a balance, and being intentional about one's use of any resource.

Hopefully this workshop will empower parents and carers to hold balanced conversations with their young people about everyone's use of tech, what they get out of it, and what might be difficult about it.