Does Cellphone Promotes Child Development? Fact or fake?

TV Globo's Fantástico has started a series on the use of mobile phones and tablets by children. Can we rely on surveys done with only 6 children?

The use of mobile phones and tablets by children. First of a series of programs produced by the BBC, this episode features results from an ongoing research comparing six children up to one year old - three users of electronic gadgets and three who apparently do not use them.

The program shows children performing different tests of broad and fine motor skills and underscores the superior performance of tablet and mobile users. At the end of the program, the researcher responsible for the study says that this is one of the areas that have been studied - in the others the use of these stimuli also seems to contribute to the development of different abilities. He says they are preliminary results and that although the sample is only six children, this study corroborates another larger study he is carrying out.

The program draws attention to three aspects: it was produced by the BBC of London, presents highly controversial results and is based on a research with only six children. Fact or fake? How to know?

First, it should be noted: the program received severe criticism in newspapers such as The Guardian, not because it is "controversial", how we like to use the term in Brazil, but to be mistaken.

Second, it presents controversial results, and, even more, in the area of ​​motor development, which is of secondary relevance in the case.

Thirdly, there is not enough methodological rigor to merit disclosure - even more so at this level.

What we see in the program does not even become a "fact". To be considered a scientific fact, the proof must be rigorous. In the case, we know nothing about the past of the three children who have never used tablets, nor about the others who use them intensely.

To avoid such doubts, scientific research needs to use random samples of participants, a number of cases that allow for safe inferences and rigorous experimental controls.

Without this, they are just case studies - they serve to raise hypotheses or alert for limitations of other studies, but they have no evidentiary value.

In fact, there is much more robust evidence that says the exact opposite regarding the relationship between intensive use of tablets and motor skills.

In addition, in the world of science, a swallow does not make summer: the evidence needs to be cumulative. It takes several studies, done in places, time, conditions and by different researchers, so that the validity is established.

They should also use different methodologies and instruments - in developmental studies, the impact analyzes of these continuous stimuli on the brain are essential. Also long-term impact is an essential part of the task of establishing and substantiating scientific facts.

There are thousands of published studies on the subject. The most important of these - known as the ABCD study - has been conducted under the direction of Dimitri Christakis of the United States National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) and one of the authors of the approved "screen time" recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The conclusions of this study, consistent with the scientific knowledge accumulated so far, show the devastating effects of cellular use, especially on attention, memory and language - pillars of cognitive development and learning.

Cell phones fascinate children - just as chocolate, sugar, sex, money, power, speak evil of others - as well as pseudo-facts and fake news fascinate adults.

Apps for children are designed to be addictive - they use stimuli that act directly on brain areas that excite the sensation of pleasure, and do so unexpectedly, contributing to the formation of addiction. They are a vice like any other, but they are an addiction.

From the NICHD study the famous phrase "children need laps, not apps" has already come out: one of the most serious negative effects of this new addiction is the withdrawal of children from their parents. There is much more rigorous and interesting evidence that the media can show, to the best of society.

How about turning off the tablet - or the TV - and reading a book with your baby?