shows that children are distracted while on their phones, and therefore are at a far greater risk of being struck by a vehicle when crossing a street. This covers children aged 10 to 12, who were put to task through a virtual simulation. This was repeated six times with a cell phone, and six without. And, unsurprisingly, the children couldn’t walk and chew gum talk on their cell phones.
“The children who were on the cell phone and were distracted during their crossing were significantly more likely to get hit by a car in the virtual environment,” [Katherine] Byington [doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham] reported. “They were getting hit or almost getting hit at least [once], while the kids that weren’t on the cell phone didn’t get hit [at all].”I remember back to my youthful days, when I was just granted permission to cross the busy street near my house by myself. I’m 100 percent certain that if I had a cell phone at that time, my parents would not have let me walk in that direction. Dr. Judy Schaechter, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Miami, agrees:
“The change has to be with the parent,” she added. “Parents need to consider the risk before they buy the young child a cell phone, and parents need to lay down rules and clear consequences for cell phone use, which includes not using it when crossing the street or not on sidewalks. The research provides an opportunity to teach children responsible behavior before they get behind the wheel of a car.”Gotta start ’em young, I suppose.]]>
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