[anarchist23]

Technology is changing the family. We do live in a Brave New World and our future is unknown.

An overuse of mobile phones by parents disrupts family life, according to a survey of secondary pupils.
More than a third of 2,000 11 to 18-year-olds who responded to a poll said they had asked their parents to stop checking their devices.
And 14% said their parents were online at meal times, although 95% of 3,000 parents, polled separately, denied it.
The research was carried out by Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Among the pupils:
■ 82% felt meal times should be device-free
■ 22% said the use of mobiles stopped their families enjoying each other's company
■ 36% had asked their parents to put down their phones
Of pupils who had asked their parents to put down their phones, 46% said their parents took no notice while 44% felt upset and ignored.
Despite this, only a minority of parents (10%) believed their mobile use was a concern for their children - although almost half (43%) felt they spent too much of their own time online:
■ 37% said they were online between three and five hours a day at weekends
■ 5% said it could be up to 15 hours a day over a weekend
Research last year by DAUK and HMC showed almost half of secondary pupils were checking their mobile phones after they had gone to bed, amid warnings that they were arriving at school tired and unable to concentrate.
According to the new research, almost three-quarters of pupils (72%) said they were online between three and 10 hours a day - but for 11% this could rise to 15 hours at weekends and holidays and 3% said it could reach 20 hours.
And children's greatest worry about their own online use was lack of sleep, with 47% highlighting it as a major concern.
But among parents, only 10% worried about children's time online leading to sleep deprivation.
Mike Buchanan, headmaster of Ashford School in Kent and chairman of the HMC, which represents leading private schools, said it was time for parents, teachers and pupils "to rewrite the rulebook" on mobile devices, which "have become an integral part of life at school, work and play".
"Our poll shows that children are aware of many of the risks associated with overuse of technology but they need the adults in their lives to set clear boundaries and role model sensible behaviour.
"To achieve this, we need to join up the dots between school and home and give consistent advice," said Mr Buchanan.
'Wake-up call'
Emma Robertson, co-founder of DAUK, said too few parents knew how long their children were online, particularly at night, "or what they are actually doing online".
"We hope these findings will be a wake-up call for families and motivate them to have serious conversations about the safe and healthy use of technology," she said.
The research comes ahead of the HMC's spring conference, which will explore new ways of working between schools and families in both the state and independent sectors.
Parents and pupils at a leading academy chain, which runs both state and private schools in England, were invited to take part in the research earlier this month.

BBC

[AFAIK]

My parents ignored me even in the low tech age. Broadsheet newspapers create an effective barrier.

Lists of statistics are boring especially when they come from an inaccurate survey as the 3rd line of the article admitted.

[Ter]

My parents ignored me even in the low tech age. Broadsheet newspapers create an effective barrier.

Newspapers during breakfast were acceptable at the time.
My parents shared very few meals with their five children and when they did, I cannot remember that conversation was part of it.

[Stormsmith]

A23:
I'm surprised it's kids complaining about their parents. Kids seem to be attached to their phones in public.

In my family, nobody wanted to talk at breakfast, so newspapers could be read. At dinner time, we'd talk about everything, unless hockey was on.

[anarchist23]

@Stormsmith
My kids are continually on their phones, tablets, PCs, laptops, Xboxs.
A few years ago I got my own back and started posting on PoFo.
If you can't beat them join them.
I can be antisocial as well!

[AFAIK]

When the printing press made books accessible to the masses people complained that kids read too much and should play outside all day because that's how they lived 30 years ago. Give it a generation and then people will stop complaining.

"Oh noes life is different now."

[MistyTiger]

My parents would mostly ignore me during meal times. They would talk about grown up stuff in Mandarin and I would not understand much of what they said. I guess that was the point though, they did not want me to understand.

I prefer to be ignored than for them to ask me questions and scold me about things I did.

If kids want attention from family than they should set up attention gatherings or something. Problem solved.