Smartphones have got in a revolution can we say? But off late it is more of a distraction. A lot of parents do not really mind giving their children the smartphone to keep them occupied. With the availability of so much of kids content on various digital platforms, or be it just games, parents easily hand over the mobile phones to their kids. But small children using smartphones is definitely not a good habit, even physically. Once the child is used to playing on your smartphone, he/she will get the unhealthy addiction at a tender age. A new study has shown that excessive use of touchphones can weaken the muscles of a child to the extent that they will not be able to hold pen and pencils.

Doctors in UK have issued the warning signal to all the parents. “Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago,” said Sally Payne, the head paediatric therapist at the Heart of England Foundation NHS Trust in the UK. She has said that they do not have the fundamental movement skills. A strong control on the fingers is very necessary to hold a pencil properly. But since the children are just scrolling down the screens the haven’t really used their muscles so much.

Nowadays, we have seen how children are excessively glued to mobile phone games as compared to the ones involving real physical movements. It also seems as an easier option, because when a kid is playing with toys, one has to keep constant attention on them. These habits can also cause a delay in developing even handwriting skills for a child. “One problem is that handwriting is very individual in how it develops in each child. Without research, the risk is that we make too many assumptions about why a child isn't able to write at the expected age and don't intervene when there is a technology-related cause,” said Mellisa Prunty, a clinical researcher to the Guardian.

It is really a worrisome thing that children’s learning can be definitely hampered by the own doings of their parents. The excessive use of technology is hampering not just the adults but also the basic development of a child and it is time, we restrain on the same. If you know of someone or even spot kids around using smartphones, make sure you share this with their parents.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2018 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).