So is there anything more depressing than being out and about and seeing a baby, not yet taking their first steps, but already glued to a smartphone? While there is a growing awareness of how parents using smartphones around their children can affect social and emotional development and language learning, there is a lack of data on actual use of devices by infants and toddlers. They were spoken to by adults and stimulated by an unmediated view of the world around them. However, if legislating for smartphone use in teens has proved to be a tricky proposition, how do we regulate it in infants, or more pertinently, the adults who are giving them the devices? Our children are growing up in a technology-driven world and we are still struggling to navigate that.

Source: Irish Examiner March 16, 2026 01:05 UTC