Children Under 8 Spending Almost an Hour a Day on Smartphones
As Christmas shopping season approaches, many young kids will wish for smartphones, and new research shows small children are spending more and more time glued to the screen.
Children 0 to 8 years old now spend close to an hour, 48 minutes per day on a mobile device, according to an October study by Common Sense Media.
The kids' screen time is up from only 15 minutes a day in 2013.
Smartphones have been linked to depression and attention-deficit disorder in children and teenagers.
"They should just play," said child and adolescent family therapist Darby Fox, who said kids do not learn how to entertain themselves if they are connected to a device all the time.
The number of teens who experienced at least one major depressive incident shot by 60 percent between 2010 and 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services found.
Psychotherapist Tom Kersting said parents should provide kids with internet-connected smartphones when they are comfortable with their children having access to pornographic material.
Children Under 8 Spending Almost an Hour a Day on Smartphones | Fox News Insider