Smartphones are a wonderful tool that has come to facilitate many aspects and tasks of our personal and work life. Having a camera, our agenda and the way to keep in touch with our family and friends, is very practical. But also, It is something that absorbs a lot of our time and our attention.
The distraction of having a smartphone, not only deprives us of real interaction with other people, but could affect the quality of our relationship with others. Especially with our children.
A new study found that the use of smartphones could prevent us from cultivating and developing feelings of connection and closeness with our children. We share your results.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia and published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, this study analyzed the impact of using smartphones when parents are spending time with their children and how it affects the relationship between them.
Two experiments were carried out: one in a museum, where parents were assigned to use their telephone frequently or infrequently. In that first experiment, it was found that those who used it frequently felt more distracted, which caused altered feelings of social connection, and the time they spent with their children.
In another similar experiment, a daily study was conducted over a week, where they found deeper evidence of how smartphones distract parents from reaping that feeling of social connection by spending time with their children.
The researchers conclude that being constantly connected to the Internet could be expensive for the creation of social life with the people around us.
Let's put the mobile aside
While this study does not reveal something we did not know or imagine, we should take it as a reminder of the importance of staying focused and not distracted when we are with our children.
The time we spend with them, especially during their first years of life, will be essential to build a close relationship between parents and children from childhood, where there may be room for trust, security and respect.
We must remember to be parents present. It is normal that there are days when we have to pay attention to our mobiles due to labor matters or issues of special importance. But when it comes to that, a good option would be to allocate a specific amount of time to review them, resolve the slopes and then release it completely.
I remember that it doesn't affect your phone that you don't pay attention, but your children do. Every minute we spend absorbed in our smartphones, it is a minute that we miss the wonderful company that our children are.
Nor do we say that their use should be prohibited or that we completely eliminate them. It is simply a recommendation that in the long run, it will be the best for you, for your children and for the relationship they may have when they reach adulthood.
Let's set the example by not abusing its use, let's unhook the cell phone and let's start focusing on the really important thing: foster and develop a real and close connection with our children.
