Dr. Jenny Radesky from Boston Medical Center recently released a study on the effects cell phone use by parents or caregivers had on their children. Not surprisingly, the study revealed that when parents used their phones in front of their children, the children exhibited behaviors where they tried to get their parent’s attention.

The study also found that parents often showed annoyance at children when they were interrupted from their phones. And the little interaction that parents or caregivers had with their children were more negative or harsh.

As a pediatrician who believes that children need to form strong attachments to parents during their first five years of life in order to have a strong sense of security throughout their lives, this study breaks my heart.

I have seen far too many children suffer from lack of healthy attention from their parents. I know what kids do once they are teens or young adult after a childhood of feeling ignored and unwanted, and it isn’t pretty.

Several years ago I was examining a five-year-old boy to get him ready for kindergarten. During the exam, his mother’s phone rang and she answered. The young boy looked me in the eye and said,…