The amount of time kids spend glued to a screen gets a lot of attention. But, it turns out that parent’s screen time might be an equal culprit in hindering children’s development, thanks to a phenomenon called “technoference.”
You know those moments when your kid comes up to you, yapping away while you’re mid-text, and you hold up a “one minute” finger until you can hit send? Or when your phone buzzes mid conversation, and you pull it out to check it while your toddler rambles on? They’re seemingly small interruptions (and we’re all guilty of them), but they contribute to what Australian researchers have called “technoference.”
“Technoference” occurs when your devices steal attention away from your child, and it turns out, it’s doing more harm than we might expect.
An Australian study published just this week in JAMA Pediatrics looked at the effect of parents’ technology use on children’s development in their early years. The researcher performed a meta-analysis of 21 studies, involving 14, 900 participants from 10 countries.
The researchers found that children whose parents used technology in their presence exhibited poorer cognitive abilities including attention problems and weaker thinking skills, emotional issues like anxiety and withdrawal, and behavioral problems. The children also demonstrated a weaker attachment to their parents.
The children also had higher screen times themselves, mirroring their parents’ habits.
The researchers also noted that the extent of the parents’ distraction didn’t matter — whether parents took a moment to check a text, or scrolling on social media for an extended period of time, the technoference had a similar impact on children.
“When parents frequently engage with screen-based devices in the presence of their children, the children’s efforts to interact or seek attention may be met with delayed, dismissive, shallow, or absent responses,” the study said.
Technology isn’t inherently bad — and the researchers acknowledge that — but, the study does point towards a need for boundaries when it comes to screen time, for adults and children alike.
Parents who want to combat technoference in their home can do a few things, such as screen-free family time, and setting their phone to Do Not Disturb to quiet those tempting notifications. Distraction isn’t innate to our devices, but they sure do offer many, so taking even small steps to limit them can help parents spend more intentional time with their families.
