http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...MCNEWEML6619I2

I do not think any research is necessary to prove this...but until adults put away the shiny lit-up screens children of all ages will be reaching for them. Maybe a bit extreme example (but that is me) handing an under 5-6 yr old a smartphone or tablet is not completely unlike handing an 11 yr old a cigarette or beer.

How long until the packaging for phones/tablets includes the "3+" marking?

I have been saying this for years, and I love my tech.

I would personally not give my kids iPads etc under the age of 12 or 13 years old. I think it is incredibly harmful to social development and encourages and ingrains very bad habits too early on in life.

I think the most important thing is to encourage kids to get involved in sports and arts so that by the time they reach their teens they already have a good physical and creative mindset and background, which can be incredibly hard to get in later life once more sedate habits set in. Technology is easy to learn a little later in life, but the consequences of overuse when young can be long-lasting and far-reaching.

I already see 9 and 10-year olds glued to phones, and young kids crying when they can't get hold of a tablet to play with. I see parents using them as a convenient way of keeping kids busy while they go and do other stuff, not realising that they are essentially like crack for their young children, and not realising that eye-strain or RSI can rear its head only a couple of years later even at a young age as the kids simply do not know when to stop, or how to moderate their own behaviour. Not to mention that kids then have access to the internet and chat programs with all the associated dangers, which many parents have no clue how to set up properly to ensure things are filtered etc.

The kids are essentially completely at the mercy of the awareness of their parents, and I would say it is an area that most are still largely in complete (or as good as) ignorance of with regards to the dangers.

Well I for one am pleased to see such research being done, as otherwise we'll be left open to opinions such as

"Not completely unlike"? Well, nor is handing them a book "not completely unlike...", but to suggest, by inference, that there's a similar level of risk involved is quite ridiculous.

Disagree. Formation of lifelong habits, that for a bit of quick pleasure come at greater cost to society as a whole.

Controlled, supervised, and limited use of the tech as an educational tool is the key.

The problem exists where parents give the kids the tech just to keep them quiet, much like a lot of parents did when they sat the kids down in front of the TV 10 - 20 years ago.

How are children not expected to use smartphones when the average adult looks at theirs over 200 times a day?

Agreed.

Perhaps the average adult should look at their phones 200 times a day?

I don't kid myself that they are an education tool.

They are a frivolous bit of distraction - great for long car journeys or perhaps occasionally when you're getting a meal ready.

..or gave them a book to read 40 - 50 years ago...

I think this is the main discussion point. I'm always on my phone or tablet and my Daughter was unlocking my iPad and Smart phone before she was a year old. She's almost 3 now and loves youtube videos and educational apps.

Is that all she does all day? No. She loves playing with building blocks, play-doh, playing in the garden, she goes to gymnastics once per week and swimming after, she has a swimming lesson once per week as well.

I think a complete ban on smart devices until early teens isn't a good idea...purely because they are now a part of every day life and it will only become more the case.

On a similar subject - screens and young formative brains - a pediatric neuro-opthalmologist I know is involved in studies and data collection indicating that the degree of nearsightedness in young children is increasing. This is mostly attributed to the lack of time they spend focusing on random objects at varying distances as infants/toddlers, instead having bright colourful screens under their noses.

No just books though, there have always been plenty of toys that require kids to use their own imagination to play with, instead of being fed content "on rails" like on phone and tablet apps. There are so many awesome toys, so many awesome board games, heaps of colouring and art stuff, that with the right encouragement kids have no reason to ever be really bored. The only issues you may have are when they get old enough to see all of their friends having stuff given by their parents, but that's something to deal with when it happens, and is less of an impact when a kid is very physically active.

I would in fact argue that even as an adult, a tablet or smartphone is sometimes the worst kind of boredom, as it often leads to a compulsive desire to check and flick through it aimlessly looking for things that interest you, which depending on how much you've already used it that day isn't always going to happen. That's why I carry an E-reader stacked full of my favourite types of books and novels pretty much everywhere I go when the situation allows it.

It was difficult to read a book while crawling round a loom.

True that, and there's weren't much light up them chimneys neither.

There was when they had a bow-legged, phossy-jawed match girl to hand.