Are New Parents Not As Worried About Their Kids Over-Using Technology?

With the first generation of children with tons of exposure to technology, new research suggest new parents of these kids are not as worried about their children's use and possible overuse of gadgets and media, U.S. News reports.

Researchers from Northwestern University studied more than 2,300 parents of children up to 8 years old, and found that 78 percent reported that their children's media use does not cause family conflict, and 59 percent of parents said they were not concerned that their children will become addicted to new media.

"We asked parents what their challenges were as the parents of young children...and sometimes media was never mentioned," said study author Ellen Wartella, director of Northwestern's Center on Media and Human Development, to U.S. News' HealthDay. "Parents of children this age are concerned about their health, safety, nutrition and exercise, and media concerns are much lower down the list. That was a surprise." 

Wartella and her team identified three types of media environment that parents create for their kids. Thirty-nine percent of families were deemed "media-centric," 45 percent "media-moderate," and 16 percent "media-light." Children in media-centric homes spend three hours or more each day staring TV, computer or tablet screens than those in media-light households.

Results also suggested parents are not apt to quiet their kids by handing them a smartphone or tablet, as many tend to think. Instead, 88 percent of parents turned to toys and activities, 79 percent turned to books, and 78 percent turned to the TV. In contrast, 37 percent of parents reported being apt to turn on smartphones or other such devices to distract their children.

"Given all I've seen in the popular press, the newfangled technologies of smart phones and tablets would be the go-to tools...but we didn't find that," Wartella said. "What's compelling is we certainly have a generation of parents now who grew up with technology, and it's very much a part of everyday life for these families. There are different styles of use, and parenting styles set the agenda and help influence children's styles."

Dr. Roya Samuels, a pediatrician at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park, said to HealthDay that most pediatricians are more concerned about children not getting enough play time outdoors, and worries that stationary media use will lead to higher obesity rates in children.

"The main contributing factor is the rise of technology, and children are spending a good amount of time behind screens instead of outdoors playing or indoors just moving around," Samuels said. "Another thing that ties into this is that it's really important for children to be active learners, not passive learners, and a lot of this screen time is really not an active way of engaging in their own education." 

However, Samuels added new media also offered "wonderful benefits" to children, though she stressed it should not encroach on one-on-one time with kids and their parents.

"It's much more difficult for parents to find the quiet moments to pass on life lessons and share quality time with their kids," she said. "Everywhere they turn, there's a tablet, a computer, an iPhone or a handheld device luring them away from what used to be the main arena where children would learn lessons in the family home."