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Original poster

Parents shouldn't use mobiles around their children

229 replies

SmudgeButt · 10/02/2025 13:10

OK I know some will think this is ridiculous. And just for context I'm not saying that parents shouldn't have mobiles but simply not use them when they are out and about with their children.

There's been lots on the news about how schools want to restrict students using mobiles during school hours. But these are kids that have been raised with practically ever adult around them with a mobile glued to their hand.

I've seen parents out pushing buggies with an excited child pointing at flowers or doggies or whatever and the parent is just walking along like a zombie, ignoring the child and simply staring at or talking on their mobile. I've even seen children with buggies or at restaurants that have a tablet, real or plastic, for them to look at and play with rather than engaging with anything else in the world.

Yes I know some children for whatever reason need to have a distraction in order to be in whatever public space. And I know that we all want to have a mobile in case of emergencies or if there's a real need to contact someone.

I guess my issue here is that the other day I was in a restaurant with DH having a breakfast out together and he said, "oh look that woman is talking to her child!" The entire time she and her friend were having their coffee etc they both talked to the child, involved her in the conversation, let her sit quietly for a bit, played with her. Simply engaged with the child as adults would normally but without any IT distractions.

Thoughts?

OP posts:
lnks · 10/02/2025 13:40

The problem is that we see one snapshot of a persons life.

I probably looked awful the other day walking around Manchester looking at my phone because I was using the maps app. So the OP would have judged me as a terrible parent, when in reality I rarely use my phone during the day, and definitely not when I'm out with my child.

cardibach · 10/02/2025 13:38

I agree people shouldn’t be scrolling when their child is trying to interact with them, but it’s a big jump from there to never using the phone around their children at all.

TheSeaOfTranquility · 10/02/2025 13:36

I agree (and I'm guilty of this sometimes too, but I try not to). I do find it really sad when I see small children in prams and pushchairs, and their parent is walking along staring at their phones. It's dfficult because so much of our life, even that related to our DC, is run via our phones - transferring money into the class rep's collection for the teacher's leaving present, completing a Google form to give permission for your child to go an a school trip, messaging the scout leader to let them know your DC is sick and won't be attending this week. And every time you pick it up to do one of these essential tasks, you notice that you've got seven unread WhatsApp messages, or you notice an email from the library to say that your books are due back so you have to quickly jump on the library app and renew them all, or a news notification flashes up about a story that you have a particular interest in, so you click on it...so even with the best of intentions, it can be quite hard not to use your mobile around children.

I suspect excessive parental use of screens is bad for children as children's excessive use of screens is - they are two sides of the same coin - and I almost wish that, for all their convenience, smartphones hadn't been invented.

lnks · 10/02/2025 13:12

So what about using an app to buy my train ticket, using Apple maps when I was in Manchester city centre an unsure of where I was, texting my other child who was at home and had an important question. Honestly I could go on and on