Having children seems to activate a part of the brain that forces us to say the repeated phrase “Leave the machine now,” referring to the cell phone or portable game console. Here, logically, concern about the screen time of the little ones monopolizes the conversations of the most current parents, but the reality is that science is beginning to see that the fault for these behaviors really lies with the parents themselves.
A reality. The debate over whether children are born “addicted” to technology fades when we look at the empirical evidence. It’s not just that the devices are designed to capture attention; is that a child’s first and most powerful learning algorithm is to observe their parents who spend the day in front of the screen.
Bandura’s theory. To understand why the little ones don’t put down the tablet, you first have to travel back a few decades, to psychologist Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. This theoretical framework, widely validated, establishes that children do not learn primarily by what they are told, but by observation and imitation, especially of those they perceive as close and competent, such as their parents. Literally, we are talking about sponges that do not lose detail of anything.
Four phases. In order to learn through this route, it is first necessary for the child to pay attention to the behavior of his or her ‘reference’ adult, such as his or her father or mother. From there, he will begin to retain the pattern made by his caregiver in his memory, almost as a normative behavior, and develop the physical ability to imitate the gesture.
But it goes further, since by observing reinforcements, such as their parents laughing when they see the cell phone, an association with a positive stimulus is created. This is really important because you see that doing that action is something that is not dangerous at all, but rather fun and enjoyable.
Modern pediatrics. Beyond this theory, a recent meta-analysis Published this year in the prestigious journal JAMA Pediatrics, it has analyzed the impact of the use of technology by parents in the presence of their children. This brings together a total of 21 previous investigations and covers 14,900 participants from 10 countries, empirically demonstrating that there is a direct association between the time that parents spend in front of a screen and the time that their children end up spending with them.
But in addition, it has also been seen how it can generate a negative impact on children’s cognition or an increase in externalizing behaviors such as tantrums or anxiety.
The cell phone on the table. The disconnection created by the smartphone not only creates a role model, but breaks the two-way interaction that children need for healthy brain development. Something relevant is that 70% of parents admit to being distracted by their mobile phone when they are with their children, and here is a study in Pediatrics in 2014 where this phenomenon was observed; This phenomenon has already been observed in the fast food restaurant environment.
According to your data40% of parents were so engrossed in their devices during meals that they ignored their children completely. But even worse was when children tried to get their attention, often escalating their behavior, and simply causing parents to respond more physically or verbally when they felt interrupted.
The recommendations. The American Pediatric Association is quite clear pointing out that children under 18 months should completely avoid screens, and in the 2 to 5 year age group it can be introduced for a maximum of 1 hour a day and as long as high-quality and accompanied content is watched.
Images | hessam nabavi
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