Are mobile phones to blame for children's mental health?

Correlation is not causation. A basic rule of evidence and research. Correlation means that two things seem to happen together.

- Dr Ali A Smith

People notice that they appear to be linked. Causation is different, it means that we have proved that one event leads to another. There is a great temptation to think that when we see two things happening together, that one has caused the other.

There are some famous examples of how wrong that can be. The divorce rate and margarine consumption seem to be the linked, but margarine consumption doesn't cause divorce, nor does divorce cause margarine consumption even if the finances post divorce get a bit tight.

In research, the noting of two things seeming to be linked is often the first step in building evidence, but it's not the last step. It will normally require further research to establish that one thing caused the other.

The link between mobile phone use and children's health is one such correlation. Two things that everyone says are linked together. It's getting to be rather famous and the world seems to have concluded that one causes the other.