It can be all too tempting to hand a fractious child a phone or tablet to calm them down. But doing so means they may fail to learn how to regulate their emotions, experts have warned. Children learn much about self-regulation – how to respond to certain situations – during their first few years of life. It can give them the ability react calmly instead of angrily in frustrating or stressful situations, and helps them learn how to get along with others and become independent.