Playing with smartphones hinder toddler's brain development

Washington: Parents, note! Better keep your smartphone away from the reach of your kids. Toddlers who play with smartphones are at an increased risk of impeding their brain development, experts have warned.According to a new study, 25 per cent of kids as old as two years old and younger have their own smartphones, which parents say is used as a learning tool for their kids, 'CBS News' reported.However, experts say it is too young for children to be utilising this type of technology and that the kids are not learning but are just being given the phone as a distraction.[caption id="attachment_1009407" align="alignleft" width="380"] Stock image of smartphone.[/caption]Experts are concerned because this type of smartphone use, at such a young age, can impede early development in areas that would impact the child for the rest of their lives.Since childhood is a time for serious brain development, children could face problems with their basic social, verbal and learning skills. Psychiatrist Gail Saltz told the "CBS This Morning:Saturday" that this type of smartphone use could actually hurt the child and that "this is really for babysitting purposes or the fear that your child can't be bored.""These years are the years that you need to be developing vocabulary, which means speaking and listening, so if you're engaged in a gadget, you're really minimising that," she said."We've seen all kinds of data now on play and how important it is to, frankly, be bored and be stimulated to do imaginative play, what that does for building creativity," she said.Saltz said that parents should realise that a smartphone is "structured time" and does not allow for free thinking.PTI