I've just seen the most depressing thing

"A dad who at least has taken her out". So that's it then, nothing else required? No attention, no interaction because he took her out. Bloody hell.

Sure, although as a mid-career researcher i'm not sure how being a young researcher is relevant. It's an interesting field but you are also pre-assuming a negative outcome.

And there was a lot of research in the 50/60s on effects of rock music on youngsters. Each aging generation becomes anxious about becoming irrelevant so they vilify new innovations. And like I said, I'm not at all for screens at all costs, I think they serve a purpose in modern world and can also be an asset. Though SM isn't one of those.

Why are parents defending the constant use of phones? Life is all about balance and protecting your children from harm, that's the job. It's hard, we all need breaks but phones and tablets are not helping your child develop.

A 3 year old should not have a phone in their hands. 11 is an age you could begin to allow access, 13 is the age for social media and it is still too young and extremely damaging.

Schools have a responsibility clearly to use tech as the amazing tool that if is,

schools won’t be facilitating social media,
selfies, snapchat counts and streaks, doom scrolling, TikTok as a source of information ..

schools using tech is poles apart from the screen addicted behaviour we see related to reels etc which is what is a huge part of the epidemic of child / teen mental illnesses

This with bells on! If you work in a school you know just how bad it is. I think so many people are totally oblivious to how bad things really are

Exactly !!!

You are now so far away from the point of the thread that a 3 year old was being given IG reels to look at for an extended period of time without any parental interaction …

you appear to be stuck in a defensive echo chamber of you are doing OK and your kids are OK - and that is great, we aren’t talking about your kids, it’s about a 3 year old soaking up IG reels and what that is a facet / reflection of …

this doesn’t need to be personal, it is societal,

what about the role of the schools themselves, more than encouraging kids to have smart phones?

Everything is on app, is emailed, is internet-based? (secondary, but an 11 year old is still a child)

people thought you could die from seating in a steam train, it's not new...

Trying to ban kids from having screens is ridiculous, and unrealistic. Teaching them to use them in moderation is the only way. Teaching them about social media is good parenting.

If you don't teach them about the world they live in, and use the tools we have, you are going to run into big problems very quickly

it will do when those children grow up and have to assimilate into society- we’re all connected.

The way you write makes me think you might be of an older generation who had kids before screens and doesn't quite get it. Most modern parents have far less help/are expected to be constantly present than previous generations. I admit, I was quite the judgeypants about lots of things regarding parenting.. then I had kids and realised how bloody hard it was

No, screens are not ideal but neither are burnt-out parents, which I know many of.

Fwiw, every generation was deemed as "ruined" by the previous generation by some sort of cultural/tech advance, so this outcry is nothing new.

You’ll get loads of posters going “this is just a snapshot” he might have been doing loads of activities before etc etc blah blah blah..but no, I agree op that’s shit. Doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, that’s a shit dad. @

what's telling? That I don't have kids who just sit down quietly looking around for 30mn? They absolutely do not have to do that at school!

They are stimulated at school, that's how they behave, and I applaud the teachers that keep it that way throughout Primary.

I don't know anyone "soaking the atmosphere", what does this even mean?

Looking at a phone or a tablet for 30 mn in a day has never stopped a child to focus, concentrate, and interact confidently, because it's about balance. I just have to look at their school reports, there's nothing wrong with my kids or their friends.

It's also time to wake up, and realise people use their phone as a tool - it's not mindless scrolling, it's messaging, emails, work, food shop, booking appointments, booking tickets. Teaching kids the difference between using a tool and mindless scrolling is important.

From year 7 (the first year of Secondary school), the school EXPECT them to have a smart phone, it's very difficult and awkward to access what they need without one: homework list, payment and funds for lunch, list of those picked up to join the teams, contacting parents, taking photos of schedule and sending them to parents..
Which is why making grand judgement without kids yourself and not seeing why they actually have phones is ridiculous.

Which is fine, until people are expect services / society to fix the problem their ‘parenting grey areas’ created -

how can early help / Cahms / school pastoral teams stand a chance with supporting kids to be able to manage difficult feelings
tolerate being in school
manage social situations
cope with anxiety and depression

when at home the parents are perpetuating a significant cause of these difficulties by facilitating the dependency on screens

The fact that you can’t relate to a kid sitting and soaking up the environment around them is very telling
taking it to the base level, the parent role models not staring into the phone, but being able to tolerate sitting / conversing / observing/ self entertaining / observing social norms - you know the kind of things they have to do in a school ??

sp many kids have behaviour issues -
can’t focus / concentrate / sit still / listen / converse / interact confidently with other people ….. because they aren’t being parented to do so. These skills don’t happen by magic, or through looking at a screen

No, I am doing the opposite of silently Judging -

I’m labelling it, giving the rationale as to why I think this is a massive problem -

signposting to resources such as the anxious generation research / book -

there is nothing silent and judgey about my responses,

as PP has said society has a responsibility for addressing this huge problem and my agenda is to keep chipping away at trying to affect change -

i am involved in a field where the massive decline of children’s mental health equally tracks the availability of smartphones is a huge problem

these young people are starting to graduate to adult mental health services -
there is a literal tsunami of problems being generated by exactly what the OP saw today -

It’s so sad.

I’ve witnessed an aggressive man with his 2 lovely little boys under the same circumstances. They were practically too scared stiff to move 😥

Was the father eating food or drinking or just the daughter?

Depressing seeing so many parents,male and female glued to their phones ignoring their young children. But it is the way a large %of the population behaves nowadays. It sadly is part of modern life. I am surprised anyone bothered to post about such an every day occurrence. Presumably because it was a man. But women are equally bad.