About 6 million children in the United States—or about one of every 10—have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Some experts are wondering whether the mobile devices we tote around might have something to do with that.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, ADHD numbers began to surge just as smartphones hit the market, and children now spend about seven and a half hours a day in front of some sort of screen.

Children engage with screen-based activity much differently than they do with real-life pursuits, and many experts believe screen time cuts down on a child’s ability to focus.

Furthermore, those screen-based diversions create an unfortunate cycle: Spending too much time in front of screens decreases a child’s ability to interact with others; but children often retreat to screens, in part, because of their difficulty in connecting with peers. The more trouble a child has relating to his or her friends or schoolmates, the more prone he or she is to seek the solace of the screen—making the child less able to relate. (Time)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.