Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist calls on parents, teachers, and government to ban the use of all handheld devices for children under the age of 12 years.
REPOSTED from Moving To Learn.ca
This is anedited list for more references and information please refer to the original article.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Society of Pediatrics state infants aged 0-2 years should not have any exposure to technology, 3-5 years be restricted to one hour per day, and 6-18 years restricted to 2 hours per day (AAP 2001/13, CPS 2010). Children and youth use 4-5 times the recommended amount of technology, with serious and often life threatening consequences (Kaiser Foundation 2010, Active Healthy Kids Canada 2012). Handheld devices (cell phones, tablets, electronic games) have dramatically increased the accessibility and usage of technology, causing escalating usage, especially by very young children (Common Sense Media, 2013). Following are ten research evidenced reasons for this ban. Please visit zonein.ca to view the Zone’in Fact Sheet for referenced research.
- Rapid brain growth
- Stimulation to a developing brain caused by over exposure to technologies (cell phones, internet, iPads, TV), has been shown to negatively affect executive functioning, and cause attention deficit, cognitive delays, impaired learning, increased impulsivity, and decreased ability to self-regulation e.g. tantrums (Small 2008, Pagini 2010).
- Delayed Development –
- Movement enhances attention and learning ability (Ratey 2008).
- One in three children now enter school developmentally delayed, negatively impacting on literacy and academic achievement (HELP EDI Maps 2013).
- Epidemic Obesity
- TV and video game use correlates with increased obesity (Tremblay 2005).
- Children who are allowed a device in their bedrooms have 30% increased incidence of obesity (Feng 2011).
- One in four Canadian, and one in three U.S. children are obese (Tremblay 2011).
- Sleep Deprivation
- 60% of parents do not supervise their child’s technology usage, and 75% of children are allowed technology in their bedrooms (Kaiser Foundation 2010).
- 75% of children aged 9 and 10 years are sleep deprived to the extent that their grades are detrimentally impacted (Boston College 2012).
- Mental Illness
- Technology overuse is implicated as a causal factor in rising rates of child depression, anxiety, attachment disorder, attention deficit, autism, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and problematic child behavior (Bristol University 2010, Mentzoni 2011, Shin 2011, Liberatore 2011, Robinson 2008).
- Aggression
- Violent media content causes child aggression (Anderson 2007).
- The U.S. has categorized media violence as a Public Health Risk due to causal impact on child aggression (Huesmann 2007). (Vancouver Sun 2013).
- Digital dementia
- High speed media content causes attention deficit, as well as decreased concentration and memory, due to the brain pruning neuronal tracks to the frontal cortex (Christakis 2004, Small 2008). Children who can’t pay attention, can’t learn.
- Addictions
- As parents attach more and more to technology, they are detaching from their children. In the absence of parental attachment, detached children attach to devices, resulting in addiction (Rowan 2010).
- One in 11 children aged 8-18 years are addicted to technology (Gentlie 2009).
- Radiation emission
- In May of 2011, the World Health Organization classified cellphones (and other wireless devices) as a category 2B risk (possible carcinogen) due to radiation emission (WHO 2011).
- American Academy of Pediatrics requested review of EMF radiation emissions from technology devices, citing 3 reasons regarding impact on children (AAP 2013).
- Unsustainable
- The ways in which children are raised and educated with technology are no longer sustainable (Rowan 2010).
- Please reference below slides shows on www.zonein.ca under videos to share with others who are concerned about technology overuse by children.
- Problems – Suffer the Children – 4 minutes
- Solutions – Balanced Technology Management – 7 minutes