'Plugged-In' Parents May Be Missing Quality Time With Kids
CHICAGO (CBS) - Here's a quiz for parents. You're at the park with your child when you get a text message. Do you check it? Or ignore it, and give your full attention to your child?
As CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports, more and more parents are too "plugged in" to their technology. And experts warn, it could come with a cost.
"Sometimes I definitely get the temptation to check because my phone will be beeping or a message will be coming in," said mother Ellie Johnson.
"I am constantly looking at it, not paying attention to my kids at the park," said mother Chris Peterson.
You'll see parents multi-tasking on just about any playground. Pushing a swing while talking on the phone, or texting a friend. Experts we talked to say, more than ever, technology is interfering with what used to be quality time with our children.
"Even if people want to be unavailable, there's the pressure to be available," said Dr. Kathy Kelley of UIC.
Pressure to answer to the boss, business associates or friends.
"You can hear that text message come in that you've been waiting for, and all of a sudden, you know, your thought's broken. You're separate, you're not as connected," Dr. Kelley said.
Dr. Kelley says when it comes to time with your kids, "connected" equals quality. And talking is the best interaction a parent can have with their child.
Dr. Dana Suskind of UIC says the amount of language a child hears before the age of 3 is critical to their development.
"Not only is that so important for the relationship, and that's probably, you know, first and foremost is the relationship with the child, but it's helping, especially in my little 3-year-old, to grow his brain," said Dr. Suskind.
Smartphones aren't the only technological distraction.
For one Wilmette mommy blogger, it was her computer time that got out of control.
"Two minutes would turn into 20 and I was missing their dinnertime," said Meredith Sinclair. "I wasn't interacting with them. I was sneaking off, and they got to sort of expect that."
Meredith's son Max said, "Oh, she's probably in the computer room, or out on the porch with her laptop."
"It went against everything I was writing about on my own website for moms, about being present, being with your kids. I knew I was not being authentic," said Meredith.
Her solution - and what the experts recommend - was to create a ban. Sinclair told her kids: no computer for her from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
"It's great. It's really fun because she hangs out with us, she'll play football with us," said Max. "She's really trying hard."
"I think having some time where it's just off-limits is only a good thing," said Meredith.
So what about a total tech ban? Moms say that's not realistic. After all, one of the moms we talked to had just received a call from the school nurse. That's a call you don't want to miss.
And some stay-at-home moms might feel starved for adult interaction, which may come in the form of a text or e-mail.
