Children May Be Losing Their Ability To Read Emotions, But There’s A Fix

Children May Be Losing Their Ability To Read Emotions, But There’s A Fix

Sure, your child can read emoticons. But a provocative new study suggests that all that screen time is making it hard for children to interpret real-life emotions. It shows that the more kids use digital media, the more their social skills decline.

Decreased sensitivity to emotional cues — losing the ability to understand the emotions of other people — is one of the costs” of heavy use of cell phones and computers, study co-author Dr. Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a written statement.