Appy Families! PHONES HELP US TO BOND
EX-RAF engineer Steve Jones has transformed one of the huge jet engines he once repaired into a family caravan.
The 45-year-old, from Lancashire, spent £4,000 on his three-month-long “labour of love” to create a camper with a kitchen, plus beds to sleep four people. ★
Steve, pictured, said: “Everyone thought I was absolutely crackers for doing this.”
TIME spent on their tablets and smartphones can actually help parents to bond with children.
Adults have previously been told to put down phones in case they distract them from their children’s needs.
But in a new study, people with under-19s living at home found the gadgets played a positive role – as long as they were not hooked on them.
And psychologist Kathryn Modecki said while parents might worry that using technology could damage their relationship with their children, “this is unlikely to be the case”.
Dr Modecki, of Griffith University, Queensland, added: “We found little evidence of problems. At low levels, more smartphone use was associated with better, not worse, parenting.”
Previous research linked parents’ excessive use of smartphones to an increase in children’s behavioural problems. But Dr Modecki, who led the study in Australia, said: “Concerns have been raised regarding the potential negative impacts of parents’ smartphone use.”
But the research found that “direct associations between smartphone use and parenting were relatively weak and mixed”.
Instead, it depended on “the level of technological interference,” she said.