Recently, a clipped statement by a researcher associated with the Ohio Cincinnati Hospital, (1) shared in an interview with NBC News, has been circulating on social media. (2) The researcher claimed without citation:
“Screen time is the new tobacco, and parents using cellphones with their kids is being compared to secondhand smoke.“
This “colloquial” comparison, likening cellphone use around children to the dangerous toxins of secondhand smoke, immediately caught our attention, especially coming from a respected researcher. While comparisons between tobacco addiction and what some call “phone addiction” are not new, (3) the assertion that a parent or caregiver’s cellphone use is akin to exposing a child to secondhand smoke toxins is a more recent, and concerning, development.
We decided to investigate the origins and validity of this claim.
Our research traced the secondhand smoke analogy back to a 2020 article by Belle Renstrom titled, “Is Secondhand Screen Time the New Secondhand Smoking?” (4) In her piece, Renstrom wrote:
“Just as frequently being around other people while they smoke can cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease, parents’ excessive cellphone use around their children may also have negative consequences.”
Renstrom coined the term “secondhand screen time” to describe situations where parents are distracted by their cellphones in the presence of their children. She likened secondhand screen time to the digital equivalent of toxic secondhand smoke, arguing that just as exposure to cigarette smoke can harm health, being around someone excessively using a cellphone can negatively affect the physical and cognitive well-being of others as well. Renstrom based her thesis on a 2008 rat study titled “Dysfunctional nurturing behaviour in rat dams with limited access to nesting material: A clinically relevant model for early-life stress.” (5)
The 2008 study referenced focused on how “chronic” stress, caused by limited access to nesting materials, altered nurturing behaviours in mother rats. Stress led to reduced nursing and grooming behaviours, which impacted the offspring’s development.
While the study provided valuable insights into how chronic stress affects maternal behaviour in animals, its application to human parenting and cellphone use is tenuous at best.
Here’s why:
- Rats share some similarities with humans in neuro responses, but their brain structures and behaviours are far less complex. Maternal behaviour in humans is influenced by emotional, cultural, and cognitive factors that cannot be replicated in rats.
- The rat study examined the impact of environmental stressors on maternal behaviours, not technology use. Drawing parallels between limited nesting materials in rats and cellphone use in humans is a significant leap.
Let’s address the analogy of cellphone use by a parent or caregiver around their child directly:
- We could find no credible peer-reviewed research to support the idea that a parent or caregiver cellphone use around their child, has health effects comparable in any way to the well-documented dangers of toxic secondhand smoke. None.
- Secondhand smoke is a proven health hazard, linked to cancer, heart disease, and respiratory issues in children and adults. Comparing this to parents or caregivers using cellphones, without credible peer-reviewed evidence, feels more like an attempt to incite fear than to provide meaningful insight.
- Yes, there is research indicating that excessive screen time, particularly for children under 7 years old, can have small but measurable effects on cognitive and social development. However, this research focuses on children’s screen use, not on parents or caregivers checking their phones. (6)(7)
While the comparison to secondhand smoke is unfounded, there is a legitimate conversation to be had about how parental cellphone use can affect bonding and interaction. (8) Excessive use of cellphones might inadvertently replace quality time spent engaging with children such as playing, talking, or nurturing.
This doesn’t mean cellphones are inherently harmful. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and balance when it comes to a parent or caregiver’s tech use. Parents and caregivers can model healthy tech habits by:
- Setting aside phone-free time during meals or playtime.
- Engaging in meaningful face-to-face interactions with their children.
- Limiting unnecessary distractions from devices.
Equating cellphone use by a parent or caregiver to toxic secondhand smoke is not just scientifically unsupported, it’s counterproductive. Fear-based narratives like this can lead to unnecessary guilt for parents and caregivers, rather than encouraging productive discussions about their use of technology around their kids.
Here’s a comparison we can agree on: a parent texting while driving with a child in the car can poses a similar risk of harm to the child as toxic secondhand smoke does long term when a parent smokes in the car with a child.
Let’s focus on evidence-based approaches to parenting in today’s onlife world. Technology is a tool, not a toxin like secondhand smoke, and with thoughtful use, it can coexist with healthy, nurturing relationships.
In the end, the real takeaway is this: balance and mindfulness when it comes to the parent or caregiver’s use of technology matter, not sensational colloquial comparisons designed to spark a moral panic.
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech
1/ https://scienceblog.cincinnatichildrens.org/brain-development-research-featured-on-today-show/
2/ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2tZzx6WARIY
3/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/smartphones-are-the-new-cigarettes-really/
4/ https://theconversation.com/is-secondhand-screen-time-the-new-secondhand-smoking-129500
5/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306452208005630
