With so much focus on children’s use of screens, it’s easy for parents to forget about their own screen use. “Tech is designed to really suck you in,” says Jenny Radesky in her study of digital play, “and digital products are there to promote maximal engagement. It makes it hard to disengage, and leads to a lot of bleed-over into the family routine.”

Radesky has studied the use of mobile phones and tablets at mealtimes by giving mother-child pairs a food-testing exercise. She found that mothers who used devices during the exercise started 20 per cent fewer verbal and 39 per cent fewer nonverbal interactions with their children. During a separate observation, she saw that phones became a source of tension in the family. Parents would be looking at their emails while the children would be making excited bids for their attention.

Infants are wired to look at parents’ faces to try to understand their world, and if those faces are blank and unresponsive—as they often are when absorbed in a device—it can be extremely disconcerting for the children. Radesky cites the “still face experiment” devised by developmental psychologist Ed Tronick in the 1970s. In it, a mother is asked to interact with her child in a normal way before putting on a blank expression and not giving them any visual social feedback: The child becomes increasingly distressed as she tries to capture her mother’s attention. “Parents don’t have to be exquisitely present at all times, but there needs to be a balance and parents need to be responsive and sensitive to a child’s verbal or nonverbal expressions of an emotional need,” says Radesky.

On the other hand, Tronick himself is concerned that the worries about kids’ use of screens are born out of an “oppressive ideology that demands that parents should always be interacting” with their children: “It’s based on a somewhat fantasised, very white, very upper-middle-class ideology that says if you’re failing to expose your child to 30,000 words you are neglecting them.” Tronick believes that just because a child isn’t learning from the screen doesn’t mean there’s no value to it—particularly if it gives parents time to have a shower, do housework or simply have a break from their child. Parents, he says, can get a lot out of using their devices to speak to a friend or get some work out of the way. This can make them feel happier, which lets them be more available to their child the rest of the time.

1.According to Jenny Radesky, digital products are designed to _________.

A absorb user attention

B increase work efficiency

C simplify routine matters

D better interpersonal relations

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据Jenny Radesky定位到第一段，由Jenny说的话可知，科技的初衷就是让人们沉浸其中，促进人们最大程度的参与，选项A “吸引用户的注意”最符合原文意思，故选A。

2.Radesky’s food-testing exercise shows that mothers’ use of devices _________.

A takes away babies’ appetite

B distracts children’s attention

C slows down babies’ verbal development

D reduces mother-child communication

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据food-testing exercise定位到第二段，根据第二句可知，使用电子设备的母亲与孩子之间的语言交流少了20%，非语言交流减少了39%，即减少了与孩子的交流，故选D。

3.Radesky cites the “still face experiment” to show that _________.

A it is easy for children to get used to blank expressions

B verbal expressions are unnecessary for emotional exchange

C parents need to respond to children’s emotional needs

D children are insensitive to changes in their parents’ mood 

解析：选C。C目的意图题。根据“still face experiment”定位到第三段，可知父母面无表情，孩子会感到不安和压抑；最后一句指出父母应该积极回应孩子的情感需求。由此可知，引用实验是为了提醒父母回应孩子的情感需求，故选C。

4.The oppressive ideology mentioned by Tronick requires parents to _________.

A protect kids from exposure to wild fantasies

B teach their kids at least 30,000 words a year

C remain concerned about kids’ use of screens

D ensure constant interaction with their children

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据oppressive ideology定位到第四段，由第一句oppressive ideology that demands that parents should always be interacting可知压迫性的意识形态要求父母经常与孩子互动，故选D。

5.According to Tronick, kids’ use of screens may _________.

A make their parents more creative

B give their parents some free time

C help them with their homework

D help them become more attentive

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据kids’ use of screens定位到最后一段，可知Tronick认为孩子使用数字产品可以让父母有时间洗澡、做家务或暂时休息一下，即可以给父母一些自由时间，故选B。