Texting while parenting: Rude and dangerous | BabyCenter Blog

Thank God I wasn?t texting that fateful day my daughter, Isla, found my scalding hot cup of tea and ended up with a Medevac trip to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. I?ve already got enough reasons to feel like a neglectful, terrible parent. I?m good.

But I can easily imagine how cell phones can provide the kind of distraction that leads to accidents.

Read more on BabyCenter: Moms behaving badly behind the wheel

According to this article in Forbes, the ways in which parental cell phone use affects children have been called into question by many a social psychologist and child development specialist.

Now, medical doctors have found a potential cause for concern in the form of an uptick in emergency room visits for children under five for non-fatal injuries.

While a potential link between parents staring at cell phones and increased child injury rates makes logical sense to me, the article is careful to mention there is no conclusive data at this point:

?There are no formal studies or other published data at this time to firmly establish any relationship between distraction by digital devices and the recent increase noted in nonfatal injuries under the age of five based on data from the CDC from 2007-2010. However, the number of smartphones owned by people aged 13 and older went from 9 million in 2007 to over 63 million in 2010, then up to 114 million in 2012. At this time, it can only represent an association, but may not be the only cause attributable to the increased injury rates observed.?

Smart phones and all the unique distractions that come with them have changed parenting, and life in general. I?m still a hold out and don?t own a smart phone for several reasons:

First reason: I can?t afford one.
Second: We don?t have cell service where I live.
Third reason: I work on the internet, as a blogger, and have noticed that being online all the time has negatively affected my mental and physical health.
Fourth: What little texting I do on my dumb phone inevitably gets the attention of my ten-year-old daughter who asks me why the person I?m texting with, most often my sister, is more important than the rest of the family. One day my daughter will have a cell phone and I will be asking her the very same question.

It disturbs me to see a new mother pushing her baby through the supermarket and, instead of running into things because she can?t keep her eyes off of her beautiful baby facing her in the cart, she can?t keep her eyes off of her phone.

I realize this is a question of balance. Not everyone lets their smart phones rule their lives, but considering how hard the designers and app makers and social networkers are conspiring to keep our eyes fixed, it takes enormous discipline to tear your eyes away, even when a child needs your eyes on him.

For a look into just how much power our gadgets have over us, watch Dr. Sherry Turkle?s 20-minute Ted Talk.

Do you text while parenting? Does it concern you?

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Source: http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/texting-while-parenting-not-only-rude-but-dangerous/

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