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Introduction
We are blessed with gadgets and new technologies that come every day. Everyday
something new is invented and many have been a great use for mankind. In today’s generation
the most common piece of technology we can see is mobile phones. We can see people of older
age, adults, kids and even infants using it. It is a great device for communication and
entertainment. But for kids especially as an entertainment device. Nowadays parents use it as a
device to make kids quiet and to make them stay put. As a result, they have been spending more
and more time with mobile phones. Longer use of cell phones is hazardous to children of young
age (4-8 years) and have different health issues first being poor eyesight. Cell phones also have
radiation which is bad for brain development. We need to monitor our children’s time with cell
phones and help them do other activities to ensure their good health.

Research
Cell phone radiation has been a topic that has been brought down for many years.
Although the radiation might be in small. it is definitely there and does damage at a slow rate.
Adults have dense bone and muscle structure and since most of our organs have stopped growing
it has little effect on us. As for kids (4-8), their bone density is low, and they are still growing
which makes it easier for radiation to seep inside their body and cause serious damage in the
long run. A 2010 study of cell phone radiation noted that, “in general and on average children
suffer a higher exposure of their brain regions than adults.” (NCRH). Their brains are still
developing and can
absorb radiation because of more water present in the brain. This can lead to non-malignant
tumor in the ear and the brain.

(Warning about RF exposure on iPhone 5s) (Screen time among children 0-8)
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Poor eyesight is one of the most common reason why children should spend less time on
mobile devices. “Staring at a screen for long stretches without taking breaks can cause symptoms
such as eye fatigue, blurry vision or dry eyes.” (Healthychildren.org). Even adult and people of
any age are prone to this with long use of smartphones. They make the eye fatigued as kids
tighten our eye muscle to look are the screen. The major factor for fatigue eye is the blue light
from smartphones which can even cause blindness in some cases. Blue light also causes sleep
deprivation which makes it harder to fall asleep. With not enough sleep children will not be
healthy and can hinder their growth. Children might also suffer from ADHD with longer use of
cell phones. “Although the link to ADHD was only for children who also had high levels of lead
in their blood, when researchers adjusted for blood lead level, they still found that ADHD was
more likely for children who made more phone calls and spent a longer amount of time on the
phone.” (NCRH).

Regular use of smartphone can lead your children to have an addiction for them. “It
jeopardizes the child’s overall development. By engaging them in solely one gadget they could
become addicted to it and taking these devices may make them angry and emotionally unstable
(Lifehack). The addiction might keep up even if they become teen or adults. Small children can
also develop negative attitude. It causes them to spend less time with real people and go online.
Even though kids (4-8) might only watch videos on the internet. It will still have negative effects
on them as they find it more pleasing than interacting with friends and parents. This might make
them slowly unsociable. Other negative effects of high cell phone use will be indirectly causing
obesity, making their attention span small and impedes their ability to learn.

Next Step
If we want to make sure our children are safe and sound from cell phone radiation and
other harms that it causes, then we need to act quick and here are some things that we can look
into first.

• Turn airplane mode on: Whenever possible parents need to turn on airplane
mode whenever giving it to a child for them to play or anywhere near pregnant
abdomen. Also, the best thing would be to turn it on at night when everybody is
sleeping.
• Monitor their use: With proper guidance and with good rules in the house
parents can deter their children from cell phone effectively. Watch how they use it
and what they use it for. Since too much screen time will hinder their sleep cycle,
therefore TV or any monitor should not be inside their bedroom.
• Spend family times with them: Nowadays people have to work hard to earn
their living and parents are no exception. In order to provide for their children
most of the time both parents need to work and therefore have no way but to leave
them at day care or babysitter. That’s why whenever possible make time for them,
play and have some quality family time.
• Parental control options on devices: Parents can use feature on phones such as
parental control where they can limit which sites they can use and how long they
can use it for.
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Tips for Android user: You can download Google Family link app which will
ask permission from you if your child wants to download new app and get email
alerts.
Tips for iPhone user: You can add your kids on apple screen time settings and
monitor them like you can on android. It is one the settings app and by selecting
screen time option and the phone will process you through it.

Limitations
There are many ways that all these steps might now work effectively as proposed. Since
everybody knows that each child might react differently. Using parental control might make
some of them upset and become angry with their parents which is not a good sign. Also, it is
almost impossible to look after kids all time especially when parents are working and not all
babysitter or daycare will completely do as instructed.
Parents sometime may need some time for themselves and might give their kids phones
to use so that they will be quiet for sometimes. Times are changing and so is technology. Parents
also might feel like they are wrong for not giving their kids as much time as they want with their
phones. So, they might not keep up with the proposed steps. There is also a case where the kids
might feel left out where everyone around them is with their smartphones and you are not given
one. These kinds of feeling might make children sad at times and might not engage well with the
other children.

Conclusion
This era of smartphones is a blessing as well as a curse to mankind. Every little child has
smartphones in their hands, and it might seem bit strange to limit phone usage. But it for their
own good and will help them in the future. Not being addicted to them in early childhood will
help them learn better and be more attentive. Heavy tech use is directly related to behavioral
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changes. Limit the use now and when they start to grow older will make good use of the
technology around instead of wasting time with them.

Sources.

“Is Cell Phone Radiation Risky for Children?” National Center for Health Research, 2.Aug.
2017, www.center4research.org/children-cell-phones-phone-radiation-risky-kids/

“Give Your Child's Eyes a Screen-Time Break: Here's Why.” HealthyChildren.org,

Imafidon, Casey. “10 Reasons You Shouldn't Hand A Smartphone to Your

Painter, Kim. “Kids Are Spending More Time Staring at Phones, Tablets than Ever
Before.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 19 Oct. 2017,
www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/19/media-goes-mobile-for-young-kids/776652001/.