Are Children Developing Health Problems from Their iPad?

Not only are iPads and other tablets fun to play with, they can also be valuable learning tools. Schools have started to utilize tablets to teach students, but now a new study is warning educators and parents alike that it is important to get the tablet out of children's hands, too.

According to a 2011 survey of 2,200 parents and children in the U.S. and Britain, 15% of kids used their parents' electronic tablets, 9% had their own tablet, and 20% had their own iPod. An overwhelmingly large percentage of these same parents said that they believed electronic tablets and iPods are valuable to their child's education. However, some researchers say that spending too much time on electronic tablets is not good for children's mental health and can lead to developmental difficulties including autism and and attention deficit disorder.

Speaking at a panel in New York called "Baby Brains and Video Games", parents were warned to limit the amount of time their children spend using electronic tablets. None of the experts went so far as to say children should stop using electronic tablets all together or avoid new technologies, but they did urge parents to exercise balance with their children and their use of electronics. As Warren Buckleitner, editor of the Children's Technology Review, explained: "you can't pull it from their hands". This is obviously a problem unique to the 21st century, but one we will probably be faced with more and more as the pace of technology speeds up.