Mums neglecting their children by spending too much time on the internet

[EdieSedgwick]

Sorry for the Daily Mail link....

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1355346/Twitter-mothers-spend-hours-blogging-neglect-children.html

Now stop reading this and neglecting that child of yours...

or me internets a lifeline .Right now all my kids are asleep.weekends we do go out and do things together

mind all my kids love the computer and infact ds3 uses most as he has physical problems with speech and without Mn sn section i would not learnt how to help and where to go for help so yes maybe online a lot but learnt a dam site more than if i only played boardgames with him

oh and he is learning to read thanks to online reading programs~(phonics no good when you cant talk) oh and to write his name takes 10 mins with a pen )physical again) but thanks to learning online stuff he has learnt to type

If mums were going to seriously 'neglect' their child then internet or no internet they would do it. By reading a book, magazine, sitting in another room, in bed, chatting on the phone to friends, mates round for coffee etc etc etc

It's not the internets fault.

DurhamDurham and BaroqueAroundTheClock you've just had a mention on BBC Breakfast

And Psammead and BeenBeta

What a pile of shite. I hate the Daily Mail.

I've had to change my underwear after reading these posts....wet me knickers from laughing...don't you just love new research

PS I'm in neglect mode right this minute

OMG!

I do hope the BBC didnt take my post seriously.

[Note to BBC: That was irony I was using there in that post].

HAven't read all the posts - don't want to neglect the children.
Only 20% of 2-5 year olds can ride a bike? How many 2 year olds can ride a bloody bike?!!

Anyway, if in the 'olden days' 100% of 2-5 year olds could ride a bike it was only because the internet didn't exist and mothers stuck them on a bike outside and shut the door so they could read Woman's Own in peace and neglect their kids.

caaaaaaaaaaaaaaptaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaincaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Or watched Crossroads

In the past i used to MN in the day but changes in screen habits meant I stopped. When pregnant /mc I have felt lethargic and ended up MN in the day again and in my eyes it feels neglectful.

I at no time suggest i spend all day playing with my two year old or the others when they are home -BUT I find screens stimulate and preoccupy one in a way a book or a chat with a friend does not.

You can look up from a book or pop it down when the child 'bothers'(!) you but you get hooked into the internet and can put the child off to the point it won't bother hassling

I don't like it - don't feel comfortable and feel guilt when I have been online when the kids are up - for more than say some urgent banking

Not for me

unfortuately, though I fucking hate the DM they have a point, though shouldnt be just about women of course. But what more can you exoect from them.

I had to stop MNing when the kids are about because I only give them half my attention.

People that are on here all day are just wasting their lives away. And whether they want to or not belive it are not parenting well if they are looking after kids.

Either their kids are on some other screen or have given up trying to attention as they have grown to realise that their parent is more interested in the computer than them.

Dear Mums
Firstly, as the very proud Dad of a wonderful 28 year old daughter, let me first apologies for encroaching on ?your space?, however, having just watched the item on this morning?s BBC Breakfast programme (Sat 12th Feb 2011) re; ?Mum?s texting while ignoring their children? I feel compelled to add my observations to the ?debate?.
The BBC presenters and their guests ? one of whom represented MumsNet ? discussed mums who text / twitter around the home rather than ?spending quality time with their children?, and while this may or may not be an issue which those individuals perhaps need to reflect on, my bug-bear has potentially much more serious, and instant, consequences for all concerned. What is it that gets me so ?hot under that collar!!?? ... It is (predominantly) younger mums heading for the supermarket, or wherever, crossing busy, traffic laden, thoroughfares pushing a baby-buggy with, quite often, an additional toddler walking / running alongside ? and the mum deep in the heart of Textland !!! Not only is she completely and totally oblivious to the potential dangers to both her and her children from the traffic, but she frequently has no idea whether her toddler is by her side or not. There is also absolutely no interaction or vocal and social discourse between her and her children. I regret to note that I witness said incidents on a daily basis and, while I am loath to suggest that the apparent increase in this type of behaviour should be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities, ? I myself am inclined to the view that this is tantamount to Child Neglect ? I do think that this issue needs to be taken much more seriously than it presently appears to be, firstly by mums (and dads) themselves, but also by those tasked with keeping children safe.
Lest I be accused of ?Mummy bashing? ; By far the worst ? texting on the move? incident I have witnessed, to date, involved a young dad ,with a toddler in a child seat, cycling one-handed down a busy road while constantly texting with the other. Neither was wearing high viz clothing or safety helmets!! Fortunately for him I was driving in the opposite direction or I would most definitely have reported him!!
Having unburdened myself and thanked you once again for allowing me to air my views on ?MumsNet space?, I shall now deflate my ?Rant Box? and store it away for future use!!!

Whike i'm on MN dd is washing 3 days of dishes, ds1 is playing guitar (way too loudly for the neighbours) and ds2 is out with granny and grampa.
Daily mail has it all wrong, the kid are neglecting me.

I have to agree with those who feel that this is nothing very new. There have always been plenty of distractions for mothers - one can't blame the internet for 'neglect' any more than one could blame radio, television, magazines, the telephone, etc.

Stone Age Kid: Mummeee, play with me!

Stone Age Mum: Shush, can't you see Mummy's doing her cave-painting! I'll play with you when I've finished this antelope!

'Twas ever thus...

Slightly off-topic, but this is my favourite joke about the Daily Wail:

Q: How do you confuse a Daily Mail reader?

A: Tell them that asylum-seekers are the natural predators of paedophiles.

(I'm new, by the way - this is my first post on here.)

I think there is some truth in that tbh. It is only recently that i have resticted myself to mn using the computer during the week when i am supposed to be looking after my children.

My computer was always on and i would go to it throughout the day, sometimes for hours if something interesting was on mn going on. My dc were sat watching telly which is never a good thing. I found i had isolated myself from doing normal things in the "real world" because the computer was more interesting. It is very true in that article about parents saying "in a minute" when their dc want their attention and i used to do that everyday!

Now i restict computer time to just at lunchtime or while i am waiting for dinner to cook. I have even stopped using it every evening to instead spend time with my dh.

I realise people are always going to look at articles like that and say what a pile of bull but there is a truth in it and i think parents who do neglect the dc to spend lots of time on the computer to mn/fb/tweet etc should really have a think about what they are doing.

And this is the thing MrsSparkle, I don't think you are the only one by a mile or that everyone who is enthralled by the latest bunfight on mn is necessarily fighting off PND/utterly lacking in RL friends/disinterested in her kids.

I remember as a teen finding MTV similarly vaguely addictive. I would stay up for hours waiting to see what the next track would be. I know that most of my friends talked about having similar experiences and would freely admit to it, with a smile on their faces! Unfortunately, we all feel such guilt when it comes to our kids that anything that could be perceived as critical is often rounded upon/scoffed at.. but I wonder.

I think some restraints are a good thing if you know you are an old gossip prone to "getting lost" online. I MN during naptime and after bedtime now, or when dh can be fully "there" for ds in the evening (and even this I am reconsidering as I think ds must see one or the other of us hooked on a screen quite a bit).

Interesting that nobody complained when women were busy cleaning out and setting fires, washing, blueing, starching, scrubbing steps, polishing wooden floors: neglecting their children in the process.

MrsSparkle GREAT (I darn not write LOL!)
if I say anymore I'll be neglecting my DS at storytime. But I've already neglected him today by going to work (making sure really neglect children are safe.

Neglecting the family? What family? Oh, THAT family!! LOL

surely mums go on when there kids are napping? (depending on age) or otherwise occupied.

I saw an episode of wifeswap with a woamn who went online bingo all say and her 2 year old was sat infront of TV all day, bless awful.But I feel parents like this would be negligent with or without acces to the net.

Ooh, 224 posts in response to a DM piece now. The DM really does have a knack for getting a response out of the MN Mail-bashing brigade, doesn't it?

If you all hate the DM so much (I love it, myself), why not just ignore its silly articles?

yy, Swedes.

And Hildegard, the problem is that the DM has a fairly hefty number of readers, most of whom are entitled to vote, and may make their decisions about politics, etc, based on the misinformation - some might even say disinformation - they read in the Mail. So it's not really enough just to say, "oh, ignore it", as it's idiotic shit like this that goes on to inform public policy.