A recent study shows Swedish kids think their parents are obsessed with technology and experts are weighing on the damage this may have on children, the Guardian reported.
Based on the study, more than one-third of children in Sweden's cities think their parents spend too much time using their phones, tablets and computers. Doctor's in the country are warning that children may be suffering emotional and cognitive damage as a result of this.
More than 33 percent of Swedish parents surveyed admitted they've received complaints from their children about their excessive phone and tablet use.
The survey also found that more than 20 percent of parents in Stockholm and the surrounding suburbs have admitted to having lost their child or children, at least for a moment, because they were distracted by their phones.
"Of course it will affect their emotional development," Dr. Roland Sennerstam, one of several pediatricians in the country to warn of the phenomenon, told the Guardian. "I sometimes see children tapping their parents on the back to get attention, but the parents give them no time."
Hanna Gronborg, 36, told the Guardian she has seen this phenomenon first-hand at a playground she regularly takes her three-year-old son. She said she believes it is an awful habit.
"There was a dad there with his daughter and he just couldn't take his eyes off the screen. And his daughter was just walking around, calling for her dad," Gronborg said." She stood by the swing, looking meaningfully up at him, and seemed really lonely and he just totally ignored her, and this went on for ages."
According to Sennerstam, the distraction electronic devices cause may have many adverse effects on children, including their language development.
"Even in the first year, I encourage parents to use language during their daily activities, and give their children new words all the time," he told the Guardian. "If parents are more interested in using their mobile phones, I think it will have a bad effect on the language development of their children."
However, some experts said they think the problem is exaggerated.
"Children have experienced parents who are absent in spirit at all times and in all families," pediatrician and author Lars Gustafsson wrote in a blog post. "Adults have the right to occasionally get a brief moment for themselves. You just have to find the proper balance, and the question is whether mobiles have shifted the balance in the wrong direction. Yes, maybe."
In Sweden, 63 percent of adults are using smartphones. This is the second-highest smartphone usage in Western Europe after Norway.
