BBC News Article - Smartphones Used As Digital Dummy

17th May 2013







This news article by Hannah Richardson for BBC, explains how parents are using smartphone and tablets as a 'digital dummy' as a way to pacify their children and keep them busy. 

A representative head teacher says that children are left unattended using their electronic devices at night time, which is interrupting their sleep. This then leaves them too tired to learn at school and children sit in class yawning and not performing at their best, forcing the teachers to repeat and go over things more than once.

The problem is how parents are not noticing this and do not realise the impact using a smartphone at night time has on their children. The article highlights the mistakes parents are making with their children in regards to their education, such as constantly using their own smartphones instead of concentrating on their child.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22571888

Telegraph Article - Smartphones Are Hurting Our Children

This article goes in to a lot of detail about the negative effects and consequences of children using smartphones, which is extremely useful for my project and research questions.

Author of the article Tristram Hunt, also a shadow education secretary, explains how when he visits school, the head teachers reveal that many of the children are having problems and difficulties with speech and language development as well as social interaction, and each head teacher blames the 'iPhone'. 

This gives the impression that the teachers believe these issues are due to smartphones. The article also specifies how if the child's parents are constantly using a smartphone, it is likely that the child will replicate this action and do the same. There is a big impact of a parent not spending time interacting with their child and using their phone instead, as this is causing the limitations of the child.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11784092/Smartphones-are-hurting-our-children-but-the-real-culprit-is-bad-parenting.html

BBC Newsround - Are you addicted to smartphones?

5th August 2011





After searching the BBC Newsround website, I found this page which contains a 'chat' with children about whether or not they are addicted to smartphones. 

Many of the children involved admitted that their smartphones are very addictive. They explained how they use them for texting and calling people, chatting with friends and listening to music. These are things that many children use their smartphones for.

It was interesting to see what the children themselves had to say about whether they think they have an addiction or not.

Com Res - Children's Screen Use Poll

Com Res has conducted a survey for Channel 4 News which shows parents feedback on their children's use of digital screens. This poll was published on 21st September 2015, after 1,056 parents with children aged 18 and under contributed.

The survey was made up of a variety of different questions such as how many hours a day their children spend using smartphones, what does their child use their screen for the most, as as well as whether they think their child is addicted to their smartphone. 

I found this this survey extremely interesting as it relates to a very similar topic to mine.

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/channel-4-news-childrens-screen-use-poll/

http://www.comres.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Channel-4-News_Parents-Screen-use-Survey_September-2015.pdf

Telegraph Article - Children Becoming Hunchbacks

16th October 2015







This article specifies how a chiropractor, Dr James Carter has warned how he has seen an alarming increase in a condition he has named 'Text Neck', mainly cases of school children and teenagers. 

Often patients go to him with just a headache however after further tests it is revealed that many had developed a backwards curve in their spine instead of a normal curve. This causes head, neck, shoulder and back pain. 

Many children are developing text neck as young as age 7, due to constantly spending hours hunching and bending over smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11935291/Children-becoming-hunchbacks-due-to-addiction-to-smart-phones.html

My Project Title & Research Questions

I have now decided on my final project title and research questions for topic I have finalised.

Title of Project:

The Negative Effects of Smartphones on Children

Research Questions:

1. Why and how often do children use smartphones?

2. What are the negative effects and consequences of children using smartphones?

3. How does the addiction to smartphones change a child's behaviour?

Development of Idea (2)

After doing more research about the effects of smartphones, I have found a fair amount of the articles I've been coming across have reference to children and the negative effects of smartphones on them. This is a topic I had already considered basing my project on and I have now decided to move forward with this very specific relevant issue. 

I feel that it is a current issue within our society and more children are beginning to use smartphones. I hear and read a lot about children becoming addicted to smartphones, so my project will dig deeper to find out the reasons for this and any effects or consequences it may have.

I will be constructing a research question / questions as well as a methodology of how I will be answering these questions. I will conduct primary and secondary research including a survey, news articles, scholarly books as well as communications reports.

I will use my research I have obtained to design a relevant campaign which will be aimed at parents, which will highlight the the findings which I believe are the most important and significant. This multimedia campaign will be the final outcome of my project. 

Powerful Image - Child Using Smartphone

This is an image which I have come across whilst browsing the internet. I think it holds a powerful underlying message about children using smartphones and how it can affect them.

In my opinion it is clear to see that the boy present in the image is in a school uniform which implies to me that he is a school boy. He is holding a phone with his head and neck facing down towards it liked he is immersed in whatever he is doing on it. 

At the top of the image there is a pair of hands which is holding what looks like the boy's brain. It looks as though it is being sucked out of his head leaving it hollow. I think this image is trying to portray the idea that children using smartphones can affect their brains, and they act as if they have no brain or their brain is not all there when using one.

This is a very strong image and I believe that it gets the idea across in a very clever and artistic way.

NHS Page - Device Usage Linked to Less Sleep

This NHS page is about a study involved with 10,000 teenagers in Norway and electronic devices such as tablets, laptops and smartphones. This study was carried out by researchers in Norway and was a cross-sectional study identifying the relationship between the time teens spend using devices and the amount of sleep they get.





The research involved an analysis of whether those who used electronic devices more tended to sleep different amounts to those who used them less. The teens were also asked questions about their use of their devices and how much time they spend on various on-screen activities. 

The study found that older teens who use their devices more, tend to sleep less, however, the design of the study does reveal that screen time directly causes a lack of sleep - as researchers did not ask what they are using their device for, and the findings were both measured at the same time.

The study also found that the teens were more likely to feel they needed at least another 2 hours sleep more than they actually got. 
It is important to stress that getting enough sleep is vital for all age groups.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/02February/Pages/Teen-screen-time-linked-to-poorer-sleep.aspx