It is often said that smartphone use is harmful for children — but at what age does the use of these devices produce the most negative effects?
A new study has provided an answer to that question.
Research conducted at the National University of Singapore found that placing smartphones in children’s hands at an early age produces negative effects on a long-term basis, affecting their capacity to learn, to retain detail and to engage in academic activity.
The study analysed data from 502 children, collected during a survey programme in Singapore.
Researchers examined the effects of screen time on development among children of different ages, and then assessed academic performance at school at the age of nine and memory at the age of ten and a half.
The study found that heavy smartphone use at particular ages produces negative effects on both academic performance and memory.
According to the research, placing smartphones in children’s hands between the ages of one and six significantly increases the risk of these negative effects.
Researchers said their objective was to determine at which age smartphone use proves harmful to children on a long-term basis.
They said that heavy screen use around the age of six produces the worst effects on the capacity for observation and attention.
The results make clear, they said, that ensuring minimum smartphone use among school-age children is of considerable importance.
A major reason for this, according to the researchers, is that time spent in front of smartphone screens takes children away from play, reading, conversation with family and engagement with their environment — all activities that assist learning.
The findings of the study were published in the World Journal of Pediatrics.
The age range the research identifies corresponds to a period of particularly rapid neurological development. The years from infancy through early school age are characterised by intensive formation and pruning of neural connections, with the architecture underlying attention, language and executive function established during this window. Experience during the period shapes that architecture in ways that are difficult to reverse later.
The displacement mechanism the researchers describe is the more straightforward explanation of the effect. A young child’s day contains a finite number of waking hours, and time spent on a screen is time not spent in the activities through which early learning ordinarily occurs. Conversation with adults, in particular, is strongly associated with vocabulary development, and unstructured play supports the development of planning and self-regulation.
International paediatric guidance has moved in a broadly consistent direction on this question, with several bodies recommending against screen exposure for the youngest children and advising strict limits through the preschool years.
The study’s design, based on observation of an existing cohort rather than random assignment, means it establishes association rather than proof of causation, and household factors that influence both screen availability and developmental outcomes cannot be entirely excluded.
Parents seeking guidance on screen use for a particular child should consult a paediatrician.
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