Experts Say Giving Kids A Smartphone Equivalent To One Gram Of Cocaine

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Article heading image for Experts Say Giving Kids A Smartphone Equivalent To One Gram Of Cocaine

A leading UK-based addiction expert believes allowing children to spend too much time on smartphones and tablets is equivalent to giving them one gram of cocaine.  

"I always say to people, when you’re giving your kid a tablet or a phone, you’re really giving them a bottle of wine or a gram of coke," rehab clinic specialist Mandy Saligari told The Independent UK. 

"Are you really going to leave them to knock the whole thing out on their own behind closed doors? 

"Why do we pay so much less attention to those things than we do to drugs and alcohol when they work on the same brain impulses?

"When people tend to look at addiction, their eyes tend to be on the substance or thing, but really it’s a pattern of behaviour that can manifest itself in a number of different ways."

In December 2017 it was revealed by Finder.com.au, over 60% of kids owned a smartphone by age 12, after conducting a study of more than 2000 Australian parents.

However, the study also revealed many were getting their hands on a form of smartphone even younger.

By age four, one in 10 Australian girls owned a smartphone.

Boys, were one year older at age five.

Safety was the main priority for parents allowing children to have a smartphone, according to Finder. 

12 January 2018




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