Toddler using a gadget
IN PHOTO: Digital child overload Reuters/Luke MacGregor

Technology has changed the lives of people through the years and more children are now becoming engrossed in using a variety of portable devices and programs. There are benefits in providing your pre-schooler with gadgets but you also have to be careful about the associated risks. Here are five reasons why you should not give such modern items to a young child.

1. Reduced social skills

Many parents are concerned at how pre-schoolers can stare at a tablet or computer for hours without finding it necessary to communicate with other children. Gadgets can lessen a person's social skills and children who are surrounded by technological devices might opt to interact with things instead of real people.

2. Cancer risks

A study published on Sciencedirect.com showed that children are more prone to microwave radiation or MWR compared to adults. Children's skulls are thinner and their tissues are softer and less developed compared to adults, so they are also more prone to experiencing the carcinogenic effects of radiation exposure from cellular phones and other mobile devices.

3. Eye problems

Just like adults, children can experience a variety of symptoms after staring at gadgets for several minutes. In a study published Hippokratia Quarterly Medical Journal, children develop blurred vision, dry eyes and headache after looking at a computer screen for long periods.

4. They tend to lose it

Pre-schoolers are not as responsible as teenagers or adults in caring for expensive things. Giving them gadgets may only cause them to leave it at school or even dismantle or break it during play. Very young children do not yet understand the value of gadgets and electronic devices so it would be costly to keep replacing these.

5. Prone to depression

Young children who are exposed to gadgets and computers at such a young age were shown to be more prone to behavioral problems and depression. A study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University presented that people get more depressed as they spend more hours on the internet each week.

Pre-schoolers should be guided accordingly or parents can completely eliminate usage until their kids reach a certain age.