016 DIGITAL LIFESTYLES – MORE HARM THAN GOOD? Are you addicted to your
smartphone? All-consumed by Google and YouTube?
ast year, 2018, saw the
world’s active internet users exceed a mind-blowing four billion, with 55.1% of the global population now online. Much of
this growth in internet users has been driven by more affordable smartphones and mobile data
plans, with two-thirds of the world’s seven billion-plus inhabitants now having access to a mobile phone. Furthermore, more than three billion people around the world now use social media each month, with nine in 10 of those accessing their chosen platforms via mobile devices. It is getting harder to remember a time when we couldn’t access information 24/7 at the click of a button. Even the term ‘logging on’
indexmagazine.co.uk
is fast becoming defunct – we are, it PARENTS BEHAVING BADLY
seems, always connected, whether at home, at work, at the gym, in the school playground – even 30,000ft up in the air. We inhabit a world viewed through an Instagram lens, we live in the moment via Twitter – including world leaders like Donald Trump – and news reports now zip round the globe in a heartbeat, not thanks to the effi ciency of news reporters but due to nimble-fi ngered armchair journalists, sharing the news as it breaks on social media. It’s a world that our children fi nd hard to comprehend as anything other than completely normal.
While many of us may have made it our New Year’s resolution to cut down on relying so heavily on technology and our devices, it seems that our children want us to do the same. A report published in January by the UK’s largest online platform for childcarers, parents and tutors –
Childcare.co.uk which has more than 1.5 million users nationwide – has revealed that more than half (51%) of children want their parents to use their phones less as a New Year’s resolution compared to just a quarter that want them to quit smoking. According to the survey, parents spend on
average three hours a day on their phones, with Facebook the most popular platform. Due to the survey results,
Childcare.co.uk asked the 2,166 parents surveyed to anonymously submit their screen time usage and discovered that the respondents were on their phones for three hours a day on average. • More than half (53%) spend most of their phone time on social networking sites, such as Facebook and Instagram. • 22% spend their time on games, such as Candy Crush and Words With Friends.
Founder of
Childcare.co.uk Richard Conway said: “Some of the answers were resolutions that benefi t the children which can be expected, but some highlight a wider issue in our society. We live in a digital age and children are used to technology being a regular fi xture in our lives, however the survey results indicate that children are very aware of how much time we spend on our phones, so maybe we should make a conscious effort to be aware of it as well and take action.” • To see the full survey results, visit childcare.
co.uk/blog/resolutions
Meanwhile… American/Italian restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s recently took the extreme step to encourage diners to focus on their friends, family and food when dining by banning customers from using their mobile phones while eating dinner, offering a ‘kids eat free’ bonus to anyone who agreed.
The campaign ran for a week during 2018
at restaurants at home and abroad, and may now be rolled out permanently. The decision to run the scheme came after a nationwide study found as many as 72% of youngsters wish their parents would spend less time on their phones and more time talking to them.
FACEBOOK MESSENGER & WHATSAPP HANDLE
60 billion messages a day
Source: Brandwatch
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