iPads and other tablets could affect children's ability to control their emotions

Source : The Independent UK 

Posted by Poorna de Silva & Anjalie Silva

The emotional development of many children is being stunted by the excessive use of mobile technology, such as tablets or iPads, new research claims.

Child psychologists at Boston University School of Medicine in the US found that children who heavily used devices were unable to control their emotions.

Instead, they end up masking or displacing them on to technology-related activities.

Dr Jenny Radesky, a clinical instructor in Developmental-Behavioural Paediatrics at the university, said: “It has been well-studied that increased television time decreases a child's development of language and social skills.

“Mobile media use similarly replaces the amount of time spent engaging in direct human-human interaction,” she told the Daily Telegraph.

The research, published in Pediatrics journal, did find that television programmes are educationally beneficial for pre-school aged children but that children ages under 30 months cannot learn from television and videos.

At this age, children are dependent on “real-life interactions”.