We live in a digital age, where mums and dads communicate on Facebook and kids hunt Pokemon at weekends, but how young is too young to give a child their own mobile phone?
That’s a question that haunts many parents these days, and the decision to buy a child a phone, even if it’s motivated by safety concerns, is one that should never be taken lightly.
In fact, it’s also the decision that 17 per cent of parents regret most.
According to a new survey, almost a third of parents believe their child spends too much time using their devices.
The research revealed that more than half of parents surveyed admitted a device has had a negative effect on their child’s willingness to participate in physical activity. 39 per cent said it had a negative effect on their willingness to socialise.
A third of parents also found their child to be more argumentative, had a lower attention span and received a lesser quality of sleep since the introduction of these gadgets.
Yet despite this, almost 50 per cent said the tech has improved their child’s creativity and over a third said it had increased their happiness.
The survey showed that a third of parents typically ban their child from using the devices at least once a week, with five per cent saying they have to remove the items once a day – resulting in tears, tantrums and one parent even comparing the reaction to that of an addict.
Children spend an average of four hours on their mobile and four and a half hours on their tablets each week.
Parents also estimated that their children spend six and a half hours a week watching television, although only 18 per cent of parents think this is too much, compared to 29 per cent who think their child uses their tablet too much.
Over 10 per cent have found their child using the device to listen to inappropriate music or play inappropriate games and, frighteningly, six per cent claimed to have discovered their children using the devices to view pornography.
Do you regret buying your child a phone? Join the conversation on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.
