The Impact of Modern Gadgets on Child Speech Development

Modern society is unthinkable without electronic gadgets and the internet. Nowadays every family member has their own smartphone and a tablet. Even the youngest child in a family has their own smartphone. It is generally believed, that a child who has learned to use gadgets before learning to speak will inevitably become an IT-specialist or a computer genius as an adult.

However, this is not entirely true! Numerous studies confirm that using gadgets by a child at a young age delays the speech development. For children aged 6 months to two years the time spent in front of the screen of a gadget negatively affects their speaking skills.

When a child plays on a smartphone or a tablet, their visual analyzer is more engaged, while their auditory analyzer is significantly less active. As we know, hearing plays a crucial role in speech development. Hearing is the primary physiological mechanism upon which speech develops. In this case, the child doesn't learn to listen or pay auditory attention, which leads to disruptions in phonemic hearing. Many parents make an obvious conclusion, that watching cartoons on gadgets, widely available on the internet,  contributes to speech development. The  child watching cartoons is continually listening to speech and many parents would think that there’s no difference if their children listen to a cartoon character speaking or hear their parents speak. Nevertheless  it is not as easy as that! At a young age, a child has a limited vocabulary, and their thinking is more action-based and object-oriented. For vocabulary development, a child needs not only to see and hear but also to interact with the new object.

Speech is more than an ability to speak. Speaking is a complicated process embracing forming, articulating thoughts through language on one hand, perceiving, and understanding language constructions on the other hand. When watching cartoons the child lacks feedback. The child just perceives speech, but does not form or actively articulate thoughts through language. There is no desire to speak. In cartoons, speakers do not address the child directly and replies are not expected. These sounds do not call to speaking action. Mastering speech at an early age only happens through live, direct communication, where the child not only listens to words but responds to another person and is actively engaged in a dialogue.



When reading and writing, we track a text from left to right and top to bottom. At the same time chaotic movements of a games objects on a smartphone does not contribute to forming the correct eye movements for reading and writing. A long period of gadget use results in improper eye muscle dynamics. The child can not focus and keep their gaze on a static object, because their eyes are accustomed to bright and moving game objects.

Excessive use of gadgets has multiple negative consequences especially for young children. It affects not only speech development, but also the child's neuropsychological state: gaming addiction, increased irritability, stress, neuroses, depression, vision problems, emotional issues, and more.



Be a good role model for your child. If you spend a lot of time on your smartphone, don’t expect your child to behave differently. Show your child that there are other interesting activities. Set aside daily time for interacting with your child.

Author: Nikolai Viktorovich Pudov – audiologist, specialist in remote rehabilitation for the "I Hear the World!" project.