Using your smartphone in bed worsens the quality of your sleep

Kids who use smartphones while in bed worsen the quality of their sleep. A new study published in Jama Pediatrics confirms the link between the health of young people and electronic devices, a link that is leading to a growing stance by institutions and parents. In Sweden, the health authority advises children under two years of age not to be exposed to any type of screen. Meanwhile, there is a growing number of parents’ organizations that abstain from giving devices to their children, as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, symbolic figures of technology, did in their time.

“In the digital age, teenagers are spending more time than ever in front of screens, potentially to the detriment of their sleep,” write researchers from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, who analyzed the behavior of 79 children between the ages of 11 and 14. The negative effects are mainly observed when the devices are used after going to bed, not so much in the hours immediately before. According to the researchers, “the use of interactive screens such as gaming and multitasking is particularly problematic although passive screen activities such as watching films were also associated with shorter sleep duration.” In Sweden, the health authority has recently recommended that parents not expose children under the age of two to any type of screen and that teenagers not spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen. “We know that digital media use can have negative effects on health, including worsening sleep and symptoms of depression,” said the minister of social affairs, Jakob Forssmed, as reported by The Guardian.

Even in Italy, on the occasion of the resumption of school for 7 million (among the novelties, the ban on cell phones in class even for educational purposes), the Istituto Superiore di Sanità recommends safeguarding the sleep of children and teenagers whose loss makes them become “irritable and aggressive” and “increases the risk of behavioral addictions”. An ISS survey on Generation Z shows that 50% of 11-13 year olds most at risk of developing social media addiction sleep less than six hours a night and almost 30% take more than 45 minutes to fall asleep. And that 30% of students at risk of video game addiction slept less than six hours a night and almost 25% struggle to fall asleep.

While in the United States, from New York to Florida, there are several restrictions on the use of social media for minors, the movement of parents who refuse to give smartphones to their children is growing. In the United Kingdom, “Smartphone Free Childhood” was born last February, which has 60 thousand members and is expanding in Australia, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Canada and South Africa. In the meantime, several tech giants under pressure are trying to create smartphone and social media experiences more suitable for children. The emblematic choice was made by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: the two giants of Silicon Valley have raised their children without technology.