On the Beach!

When my two were young, in the 1970s, I never used to have the radio turned on, as I didn't want to miss anything they said, and 30 years later it was the same when my grandchildren were here. Some of my best memories of those times are the fascinating conversations we had and amusing comments they made.

A lasting memory for me is seeing my DGD at two years old, pushing her dolls pram and holding her toy mobile phone in her neck as she walked along. She certainly learned very young from her mum.

Ignoring our children started with the design of the modern buggy.

London is really bad for this. It makes me sad to see chatty children shut down like this by their parent. Even shouted at, “Will you just stop going on and on”. Poor children.

I have seen this scenario so often at the school gate when picking my grandchildren up. The kids come out all excited wanting to tell their Mums about their day and the Mums can’t even put the phone down for 5 mins just to listen to them. It’s just so sad.

I meant to add ... that at some stage, the kids will just stop trying to talk to their Mums and how tragic will that be ....

As a childless woman it breaks my heart to see young children being ignored by their parents. However, this isn't limited to the young. I was in a cafe recently and at the next table were an older couple - they ate a meal without saying a word to each other but were glued to their phones. It was only as they were leaving they spoke to each other!

Iam64 I agree it is wrong to imply that all mums are wedded to their mobile phones or to be judgmental about those who are (and, incidentally, I have also seen dads glued to their mobile phones when they take their children to the play park near where we live).

However, I think it is important that we understand that tech devices and social networking sites are designed to be addictive and can easily have a very corrosive effect on inter-personal relationships and psychological wellbeing.

This isn't just about the relationship between parent and child It's about all areas of social interaction.

It is being reported that young people are experiencing feelings of worthlessness because the online profiles of their peers are more "exciting" than their own or because their own contributions are not receiving many "likes". This is dangerous and I think it needs to be discussed.

Recently, in my local GP surgery, I counted out of the twenty folk including myself who were waiting to see a doc, only myself and one other person did not have a phone stuck to their hand. Not that I would expect a surgery to be seen as a venue for social gatherings, but what is this obsession, I can find no other word, to be constantly on a phone?

it is so sad and I feel it is bad parenting

I totally agree, most Mums these days seem to be attached to their phones, ignoring their children, then same children walk about with their earphones attached and constantly look at the phone, ignoring traffic, other people on the pavemnet etc. How pleasant it is sometimes to meet people who actually make eye contact and even say hello.

There is a video on Fb showing officials confiscating phones from parents so that they look out for their children’s safety rather than look at their phones

theresacoo .If people have to rely on a phone for a break from their children then they shouldn't be parents.

Whilst there are still many good parents out there, my friend looks after her children beautifully, despite losing her husband to cancer when they were still relatively young. I sadly have to agree with Kupari45. We see it all the time. You see them pushing their children in pushchairs, mum glued to the phone. We were in a restaurant one time and the whole family, around 7 of them were glued to their phones! It's very sad to see, especially for the younger children, who need interaction.

It was 2009 when I went to US to stay with friends.They had asked neighbours for dinner to meet me. When they arrived, all three, parents and daughter, put their mobile phones face up on the table beside their places. I was appalled, such rudeness. And the daughter answered hers too, during the meal. I was interested to read all the posts, and saddened too.

Parents who ignore their children in favour of their phones are depriving their offspring by hampering their language development. Children are 'programmed' to learn and develop language in the years up to five and, without good language skills, it is well documented that pupils fall behind in school.

We already have scare stories of kids who turn up to first school overweight and in nappies and I recently read the first, no doubt of many, articles about children starting school without being able to speak properly.

I remember about a decade ago when I was still teaching being shocked by a year seven (eleven year olds) some of whom did not know their own addresses.

Of course, some will say that in the age of Google, Facebook and texting the opportunities for encountering the writtenb word are expanding and there is something to that. However, there is no substitute for early years face to face contact between child and adult.

Written, not writtenb!

I agree with Panache. I too have seen Mums pushing buggies glued to their phones and toddlers running around. One winter day the baby in the Pram was barefoot and crying.

On a similar note, yesterday I mentioned to my DIL that GS didn’t seem to be doing much socialising this holiday. She said that nowadays they’re all at home on games machines and phones and communicate that way - no need to go to each other’s houses. Incidentally she is a Mum who is totally welded to her phone. Would be interesting to see what will happes in 10/20 years - will meeting people and interacting be a thing of the past?

The phone thing is just the latest addition to our distractions - related to but not the whole story. There are parents who see their children as people and there are the others. I love to see parents talking to their children. But I do remember being picked on as a bit odd when I had a youngster and used to talk to her in the shop. Mind you she knows how to compare prices and that the stuff put at the checkout to tempt you is only 'for stupid people' ;)

I notice it particularly on buses - signs of boredom, wanting attention ,etc from the baby/child are either ignored or irritably shushed or scolded. luckily,there's usually someone else who notices and waves or pulls faces , which distract for a while .

It is quite frightening this modern world I see lots of mum's on the buses with a toddler and as you say their face down on the phone poor child ignored you only have to look around in coffee shops and everyone has their head in their phones I try not to answer mine when our with people and when I'm with my lovely grandson I engage with him as you say time soon goes by

At the time of the swine flu scare, about 9 years ago, our local surgery banned magazines from the waiting room. Perhaps if they relaxed this ban, waiting patients wouldn't spend so much time on their phones! I'd prefer a magazine, even an old one!

Not long ago a young dad pushing his child in its pushchair was so absorbed on his phone that he actually veered off the pavement onto the road almost into our car. Luckily we stopped in good time and no incident occured. The dad just looked at us got the pushchair back on the pavement and carried on looking at his phone again. Since when did people become so magnetically attached to their phones that they find it impossible to leave them alone for even a short time?
As another person has said about how many people in the doctors surgery were on their phones, it's the same at our surgery. Some of them almost miss their turn as they miss the beep as their name comes up on the screen.

Its not just mums who are constantly on their phones. I have been out to lunch or dinner lately and have noticed that people sitting at the next table usually in their 20's or 30's are all on their mobile phones. They are actually sitting in a restaurant or café together at the same table, not talking to each other but interacting with their phones. Then the waiter or waitress will come over with their food, they then put their phones down, eat, still not talking during this, then once they finish they are on the mobile phones again. Why bother, why not just stay at home and order the meal in. A lot cheaper. This is not a one off, I see it a lot. Sad really, maybe they don't have the confidence to interact with each other, maybe they don't have the social skills. My phone is in my bag. I check it later after the meal or at home. As others have said, maybe they are addicted, or they think that the "friends" on there are real friends. Real friends support you, visit or call. Strange thing. I choose not to be caught up in this false life. Have others seen this as well?