GIVING children “digital dummy” phones and iPads to stop tantrums just makes their behaviour worse, a study found. Experts said the parenting hack is common but short-sighted. Questionnaires found that, out of 265 under-fives, those who were calmed with digital devices had worse emotional control a year later.
They were more prone to anger outbursts and struggled to regulate their feelings. Ofcom figures show nearly 90 per cent of three to four-year-olds in the UK use the internet regularly , mostly to watch videos. A quarter of toddlers even have their own smartphone.
Children need the help of their parents, not a digital device Study author Dr Veronika Konok, from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, said: “ Tantrums cannot be cured by digital devices . “Children have to learn how to manage their negative emotions for themselves. “We show that if parents regularly offer a digital device to their child to calm them or to stop a tantrum, the child won’t learn.
“This leads to more severe emotion regulation problems, specifically anger management problems, later in life. “They need the help of their parents during this learning process, not the help of a digital device.” British teachers say behaviour in schools is getting worse , particularly since the Covid lockdowns.
Teaching union NASUWT said last year: “Concerns over the impact of violent and abusive pupil behaviour have been raised by a significant and increasing proportion of members.” The ne.
