text: Mobile phones and tablet computers are becoming dangerous distractions for parents who are supposed to be supervising their children, researchers claim. A study found youngsters were more likely to engage in risky behaviour when those looking after them were distracted – with texting or talking on the phone a common cause. Researchers observed randomly selected parents with children who looked between 18 months and five years old at playgrounds in New York. Children are more likely to engage in risky behaviour when those looking after them are distracted by texting or talking on the phone, the study showed (file picture) They measured factors such as the adult’s level of engagement with the child and how distracted they seemed. The researchers also observed how often the child took risks such as jumping off moving swings or going down a slide head-first. Children whose carers were distracted were ‘significantly’ more likely to behave in this way. The researchers also observed how often the child took risks such as jumping off moving swings or going down a slide head-first and found children whose carers were distracted were ‘significantly’ more likely to behave in this way . Electronic devices such as mobile phones were responsible for 30 per cent of all parental distractions. Three children fell while the researchers were observing them although none was seriously hurt. Study author Ruth Milanaik, of Cohen Children’s Medical Centre in New York, called on gadget-obsessed parents to keep a closer eye on their offspring, saying: ‘Increased awareness of limiting electronic distractions and other activities that interfere with supervision should be considered.’ A neuroscientist claims that modern technology such as computer tablets and mobile phones could be changing the way our brains work . Professor Susan Greenfield warned that unless people wake up to the damage that the gadget-filled, pharmaceutically-enhanced 21st century may be doing to our brains, we could be sleepwalking towards a future in which neuro-chip technology blurs the line between living and non-living machines, and between our bodies and the outside world. Electronic devices such as mobile phones and computer tablets could be anging the way our brains work, according to a neuroscientist . She said: 'One vital fact I have learnt is that the brain is not the unchanging organ that we might imagine. 'It not only goes on developing, changing and, in some tragic cases, eventually deteriorating with age, it is also substantially shaped by what we do to it and by the experience of daily life. When I say "shaped", I'm not talking figuratively or metaphorically; I'm talking literally. At a microcellular level, the infinitely complex network of nerve cells that make up the constituent parts of the brain actually change in response to certain experiences and stimuli.' The brain, in other words, is malleable - not just in early childhood but right up to early adulthood, and, in certain instances, beyond. The surrounding environment has a huge impact both on the way our brains develop and how that brain is transformed into a unique human mind. Of course, there's nothing new about that: human brains have been changing, adapting and developing in response to outside stimuli for centuries. But in the last century, development of new technologies has increased dramatically. 'This will affect our brains over the next 100 years in ways we might never have imagined,' she said. 'Our brains are under the influence of an ever- expanding world of new technology: multichannel television, video games, MP3 players, the internet, wireless networks, Bluetooth links - the list goes on and on. 'This games-driven generation interpret the world through screen-shaped eyes. It's almost as if something hasn't really happened until it's been posted on Facebook, Bebo or YouTube. 'We could be raising a hedonistic generation who live only in the thrill of the computer-generated moment, and are in distinct danger of detaching themselves from what the rest of us would consider the real world.' 'Electronic devices and pharmaceutical drugs all have an impact on the micro- cellular structure and complex biochemistry of our brains. And that, in turn, affects our personality, our behaviour and our characteristics. In short, the modern world could well be altering our human identity.'
target: Researchers observed random parents with children at NY playgrounds .
  Phones and tablets were a dangerous distraction for parents, they claimed .
  Kids with distracted carers were more likely to engage in risky behaviour .
  This included jumping off moving swings or going head-first down slides .