25/05/2026
Someone recently asked me, “What is one important piece of advice you would give to young parents today?”
After some thought, my response was this:
“Delay your child’s exposure to smartphones for as long as reasonably possible.”
In many homes today, smartphones have quietly become a convenient parenting tool - helping with behaviour management, serving as a reward, providing entertainment, or simply giving us exhausted parents a moment to breathe and recover. And honestly, these reasons are understandable. Parenting can be demanding at times.
But while devices may offer short-term relief, we also need to be mindful of the long-term impact. Young children can easily become conditioned towards dependency when screens become their primary source of comfort, stimulation, or regulation.
Research around the world has consistently shown that excessive screen exposure in early childhood can negatively affect a child’s social development, emotional regulation, attention span, sleep, learning, and mental wellbeing.
Perhaps the goal is not perfection, but balance and intentionality.
More conversations.
More play.
More boredom.
More human connection.
