Japanese medics concerned over consequences of children’s use of smartphones

Smartphones have become part of our life, and without them it is almost impossible to imagine the daily process of communication. However, when for people in the age of reason a gadget is a positive thing, and often irreplaceable, this is not so for small children. This opinion was expressed by representatives of Japanese pediatricians’ Association, who intend to start a more in-depth study of the issue. The fact is that many young mothers are using a smartphone as a “pocket nanny”. Thus, should the child cry, he immediately gets the phone to play a game or watch a video. This is strongly promoted by developers of applications that flooded the market with all sorts of games that focus on children's audience. One company has even released a special instruction on how to use smartphones in active games with children. It turns out that “smart” devices are engaged in education from an early age, but not the parents. This is proved by the studies’ results: in Japan, about 20 % of preschool children spend several hours a day playing applications on the phone. The doctors believe that such abuse of trendy gadgets by children may adversely affect their development. “The period of up to 6 years of age is crucial to the formation of the child’s five basic senses, and the constant use of a smartphone can cause dulling of one or more of them, in addition, it is bad for motor functions of the hands and the ability to write. Gadgets are also able to actually break communication between parents and their children,”- head of the Japanese pediatricians’ Association Hiromi Utsumi noted.