Since the 1990s, child injuries in the United States have fallen steadily, thanks in part to strict regulations on everything from playground equipment to nursery cribs. Recently, however, there’s been a sudden and significant increase in childhood injuries. The potential culprit? Smartphone use.
Based on emergency room statistics, the number of nonfatal childhood injuries rose 12 percent between 2007 and 2010. The same period saw an explosion in smartphone use, from 9 million smartphone users in 2007 to 114 million by 2012.
Unproven, But Plausible
The theory is simple: distracted by smartphone use and texting, parents minds wander away from supervising children. As a result, they miss the warning signs of impending injury. People focus intently when using smartphones. When parents think they just looked away from their child for a second, in fact they’ve might have been absorbed in texting for several minutes.
In all fairness, a firm connection between parental smartphone use and child-related injuries has not been established. At present,all we have is a possible connection. It’s going to take some hefty studies to confirm whether smartphones really contribute to children’s injuries.
While the scientific evidence may be lacking, the theory is all too plausible. Links between texting and vehicle accidents are well established, and childhood supervision requires at least as much attention as driving.
Texting and Neglect Charges
Authorities increasingly look at a person’s social media use and texting habits to determinewhether to press child neglect charges. In one disturbing incident, a child almost drowned in a hotel pool because the woman supervising him was texting. Authorities charged herwith reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor.
That particular case reinforces how smartphone users underestimate time. The women earnestly believed she had only looked at her phone for 20 seconds. Hotel security tapes reveled she had been on the phone for three minutes while the child struggled and eventually sank.
The woman in question did not intend to neglect the child; she made a common mistake and got sucked into smartphone usage. Anyone who everdecided to play a few minutes of Angry Birds and wound up playing for an hour can relate. When small children are involved, however, even a few seconds of distraction can prove dangerous, whether children are swimming, playing on a jungle gym or sitting on a park bench.
Emotional Consequences of the Texting Parent
Smartphone use may be causing other, more subtle parenting problems in addition toan increase in child injuries. Experts have expressed concern for some time that frequent parental smartphone use may affect a child’s language development, social development and ability to form a close emotional bond with parents.
Like the correlation between injury rates and smartphone use, no hard data existssupporting this concern. It will take years to gather the data necessary to make a scientific judgment on how smartphones affect parenting and children. In the meantime, parents of young children may want to limit smartphone use around their kids.
Byline: Michelle is an aspiring writer who currently works for a company that sells lunchroom tables. When she’s not working she’s blogging on anything and everything! She loves how blogging gives her the opportunity to improve her writing skills, voice her thoughts and opinions, and share advice with an unlimited audience.
