NEWS: Why you should ban your child’s smartphone at bedtime (tonight)

Children who are allowed to use smart phones in their bedrooms at night go to bed later and get less sleep, leaving them more likely to be fatigued in the morning. According to a new study, children who used ‘small screen’ devices, including smart phones and the iPod Touch slept for 21 minutes less than children who didn’t use them and went to bed 37  minutes later than children who didn’t use these devices in bed. The UC Berkeley researchers studied more than 2,000 youngsters aged between 9 and 12, 54% of whom slept near a small screen device. Lead author of the study Dr. Jennifer Falbe advised parents to get serious about sleep: “Parents should keep screen media out of bedrooms, limit screen time, and set a curfew of an hour before bedtime.”