Children now worry more about their parents spending too much time on their mobiles or computers than parents worry about their children. Those who order their children to switch off televisions, computers or mobile phones because they fear they are becoming addicted (上瘾的) might need to take a long hard look at their own screen habits, new research shows.
Almost 70% of children think their parents spent too much time on their mobile phone or other similar devices, a research found. More than a third of children worry that their parents struggle to switch off from technology and a quarter of children surveyed openly doubt their double standards when it comes to too much use of mobile devices, televisions and computers. One in five British children say their parents do not listen to them properly when they are together because they are so busy checking their emails or picking up work messages.
The survey was carried out by Opinion Matters, a research agency for the New Forest National Park Authority. The authority has recently begun providing facilities for visitors to hand in mobile phones, tablets and other devices for fear that technology is ruining family life and making it impossible for people to appreciate nature properly.
Dr Richard Graham, a psychologist and expert in technology addiction at Capio Nightingale Hospital, said there is growing evidence that children are finding their parents' preoccupation (全神贯注) with communication technology increasingly worrying.
Four in ten of the children surveyed admitted that they sometimes communicate with their parents by text, email or social media even they are in the next room. The survey found that six in ten parents worry their children are spending too much time glued to small screens at home but almost seven in ten children have the same fear for their parents.
Dr Aric Sigman told the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health conference that parents who cannot switch off risk driving them to a lifelong dependency on screens with striking similarities to alcoholism (酗酒).