Irish Daily Mail

I HATE MISSING ANY GOSSIP ON SNAPCHAT

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DAILY AVERAGE: 2hr 27min WEEKLY PICK-UPS: 161 FIVE MOST USED APPS: Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Facetime MOST VISITED: Instagram (9hr 9m)

LIBBY PUGH, 12, lives with her mum Clare, 40, a civil servant, stepfather Niall, 44, a stay-at-home dad, and siblings Miah, 17, Ollie, 13, and Lochlan, 19 months.

LIBBY SAYS: Mum let me have a basic phone when I was eight, when she and Dad separated and I needed to keep in touch with each of them.

My friends got phones too, and I liked feeling included by texting and using Instagram.

Everyone at my high school has an iPhone so Dad treated me to one. We’re not allowed to have phones switched on at school, though, and at home Mum won’t let me have mine until I’ve done my homework. She has banned phones from the dinner table and I’m not supposed to use mine after 9.30pm. But I do, as Mum has now found out!

My friends chat on Snapchat and Instagram, which is good fun, and I hate to miss any gossip.

At home we all get annoyed with each other for being on our phones. Mum is often checking emails or on Facebook — then when she sees that we’re all on our phones too, she complains.

Sometimes I go to see if Ollie or Miah want to play but they’ll be on their phones, so I end up switching mine on, too. I’m surprised I only averaged 2.5 hours a day.

I’ve been busted now — I have to leave my phone downstairs at bedtime.

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