Kids Having Smartphones Before 13 Years Have Worse Mental Health – Trak.in

A recent study reveals that the children, especially girls, who own smartphones before they are 13 years old may have worse mental health outcomes when they’re older.

Smartphone Usage Affecting Children’s Mental Health 

These findings were published in a study on Sunday in the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities which mainly analyzed self-reported questionnaire results from more than 100,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

The study had a questionnaire which asked about the respondents mental health symptoms, such as having aggression, feelings of detachment, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. 

The findings were shocking as the ones who were given smartphones at an earlier age were associated with worse mental health outcomes for every year of smartphone ownership before the age of 13.

According to the study, early smartphone ownership was associated with feelings of lower self-image and lower self-worth in both girls and boys. 

The girls reported lower emotional resilience and lower confidence, while boys reported feeling less calm, less stable and less empathetic.

One of the study’s authors, Tara Thiagarajan said, “The younger the child gets a smartphone, the more exposure to all this impacts them psychologically and shapes the way they think and view the world,”, in an emailed statement to media.

The plot thickens as around 48% of young women who had smartphones by 5 or 6 years old reported having severe suicidal thoughts, compared to 28% of females who had smartphones by 13 or older.

The figures are comparatively better for young men as 31% of those who had smartphones by 5 or 6 years old reported having severe suicidal thoughts and 20% of males who had smartphones by 13 or older reported having severe suicidal thoughts.

The differences between young women’s and young men’s mental health symptoms to social media usage as attributed by the authors.

Digital Literacy Education and Corporate Accountability

Besides this there are other factors that seemed to impact the mental health outcomes were cyberbullying, poor sleep and poor family relationships.

To avoid this, the study’s authors recommended restricting smartphone and social media access for kids under 13.

In addition to this they have also talked about promoting digital literacy education and corporate accountability.

Thiagarajan said, “Ideally, children should not have a smartphone until age 14, and when they do get a smartphone, parents should take the time to discuss with their children how to interact on the Internet and explain the consequences of doing various things.” 

These findings came amid an effort led by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of “Anxious Generation,” to limit kids’ smartphone use due to the impact on their mental health. 

Moving ahead, Haidt has proposed setting nationwide “norms” or guidelines, including not giving children a smartphone before high school, no social media before age 16 and establishing schools as phone-free zones.

Besides this, the parents should demonstrate to children how to use smartphones responsibly as recommended by the Pediatrician Dr. Natasha Burgert, further adding, “Children watch everything you do — and that doesn’t stop until they leave your house.”

In addition to this, the parents have to “Connect authentically and meaningfully for a few minutes every day, and show your children that the humans we live with are more important and worthy of our attention than our phones.”