SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
pacifier. It certainly wasn't the last. Since then, I've seen many tiny children barely able to toddle yet
expertly swiping an iPad not to mention countless teenagers, smartphone in hand, lost to the real world
as they tap out texts.
It's ten years since the publication of my book, Toxic Childhood, which warned of the dangers of too
much screen-time on young people's physical and mental health. My fears have been realised. Though I
was one of the first to foresee how insidiously technology would penetrate youngsters' lives, even I've
been stunned at how quickly even the tiniest have become slaves to screens.
Indeed, when my book came out, Facebook had just hit our shores and we were more concerned
with violent video games and children watching too much TV. Today, on average, children spend five to six
hours a day staring at screens. And they're often on two or more screens at once for example, watching TV
while playing on an iPad.
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