Do Your Kids Have Screens In Their Rooms? Here's Why It Could Be Bad For Their Health

I think we can all agree that we have become way too attached to our electronic devices.

It’s hard to go a day without seeing someone walking down the street on their cellphone or a child playing on a tablet while sitting at a restaurant. As I write this on my laptop, my phone is on my left and my tablet is on my right.

We can try to persuade the next generation to not be as dependent on technology all we want, but how is that even possible when we trust our phones to be our alarm clocks? We lay them on our nightstands and use them to wake up on time…but what we don’t realize is that sleeping with our devices in our rooms each night could be harming our sleep quality.

Researchers have discovered that nearly 72 percent of all children sleep with at least one electronic device in their room every night.

Even though these devices may be powered down, they can still affect a child’s sleep.

According to a report in JAMA Pediatrics, electronic devices are having a negative impact on sleep quality and quantity, as well as a child’s overall productiveness during the day.

A research team headed by Dr. Ben Carter, a senior lecturer in biostatistics at King’s College London, has found strong associations between poor sleeping habits and the use of technology close to bedtime.

Even if the devices aren’t in use at bedtime, the content seen on them beforehand may be thought-provoking for children and can vastly affect their sleep patterns.

The light emitted from devices can also play tricks on a child’s alertness throughout the night.

Read More: This Washington Mom Did The Unthinkable To Get Her Children To Sleep

The report urges supervising adults to monitor children’s screen time, especially around bedtime.

(via Time)

How plugged in to technology are your kids? Have you noticed any negative side effects of them having too much screen time?