Parents need to put down their mobiles
IT HAD to happen. Boiling point was hovering uncomfortably near. We had grown used to parents begging their offspring to avert their eyes from their mobiles “for just one moment while you say hello to grandma/peel that orange/express condolences to the family of the deceased or even listen to the vicar’s sermon” but it was only a matter of time till children objected to their parents’ addictive and allconsuming phone fixation.
We have all seen it in action. Mums and dads who can barely manage to wrench their gaze away from their mobiles in order to establish their children are fed and watered before succumbing once more to the urge to phone surf.
The scenario is more heartbreaking the younger the children who are ignored. Watching parents and teenagers oblivious of one another, all immersed in a constant stream of utter bilge emanating from their devices is dispiriting.
Seeing babies, toddlers or preschoolers gazing vacantly into the middle distance or tugging fruitlessly at the sleeves of adults scrolling and peering at tiny screens far too beguiled to spare them a comment let alone engage them in conversation is intolerable.
A poll has shown a third of children have had to ask their parents to unglue themselves from their mobiles. Even more worryingly the statistics show that despite being asked, begged and entreated to put their phones down, parents have taken not a blind bit of notice.
Almost half of the children asked said their requests for just a few minutes of their parents’ undivided attention fell on deaf ears. To add further oomph to the argument, would you believe a staggering 82 per cent of children would prefer to have mobiles banned at meal times?
LUNCHING al fresco last sunny Sunday my own family spotted table after table featuring generations of munchers all focused on their phones.
I feel like climbing aboard the table and yelling at the top of my voice: “Good God, if you can’t talk to your nearest and dearest during a leisurely weekend lunch, when the heck are you ever going to bond, develop family jokes, have a heated political argument, establish house rules, find out if your child is being bullied, or spot the signs of incipient love/flu/eating disorder?”
Let’s remember our manners. It is rude to ignore family. It is unforgivable to prioritise phones over our children. Put politeness first and maybe fun, tenderness and genuine personal connection with the people we care about most will follow.