Babies and smartphones

There have always been neglectful parents. A friend, who worked from home used to put her children in the living room, with a gate across the door and go into the dining room to work. It was voluntary work, so wasn't being done to put food on the table. The noise from the living room had to get frantic before she took any notice. The children soon learnt that crying and shouting got them nowhere.

My MiL taught the reception class in a school in a deprived area and talked about children who started school barely able to talk, because, in her words, they had been talked at, over and through but not talked to.

Then there were/are all those children strapped into pushchairs for most of the day so that they do not come between the mother and all the friends she is talking to in coffee shops and shops .

All these examples are from the 1970s and 80s.

Nothing special about smart phones.

I'm not convinced that they are the root of all evil. My DD grew up watching a lot of television - DH and I both worked long hours and sometimes the television was like a babysitter in our home. DD is now 43 and teaches English at one of the top girl's schools in the country. Going by what people say about kids watching screens, she should be a gibbering idiot. You certainly can't generalise about anything, in my humble opinion.

This is horrific. No wonder children are starting school unable to speak in sentences.

What upsets me is the acceptance that children have nowadays, that mum will be obsessed with her blasted phone.

I was in a coffee shop with a friend the other day, and a mum and dad at the next table were completely ignoring their small boy, as they were glued to their phone. The poor little chap made one or two attempts to talk to them, but in the end just gave up and stared into space.

Did anyone read about how older surgeons are finding that the new generation of young, newly qualified surgeons don't have the manual dexterity to sew up wounds properly as they have grown up with screens ?

When DGS was a baby we were friends with a young couple here, they had a little girl same age as DGS.
The first time we went to visit them the little one about 1 year old was just waking up.
On entering the bedroom the first thing I saw was large TV positioned on the wall at the bottom of the cot.
It was showing BabyTV, and seemingly was on constantly.
I gave a bit of a lecture, which was accepted but even now she has a large screen in her bedroom.
Everytime we see them, they moved away, the little girl now 6 has a phone or tablet in her hand.

I saw that too felice absolutely ridiculous isn’t it ?

I saw on a news channel yesterday that one company have produced a cot with a built in tablet, a definate step too far.
The TV used to be called the babysitter in the corner, now it will be in the babies cot, and sadly I am sure some parents will buy it.

A very good article, well written sarahcyn . Thank you for sharing . I see it all the time, mothers on their smart phones totally oblivious to their little ones. It breaks my heart when I pick my DGC up from school and they are so excited to tell me about their day . I see others who’s mums ( and it is mums) who can’t tear their eyes away from bleeding Facebook or whatever, even for a minute to ask “ have you had a nice day ?” Very sad. That video is indeed shocking and very upsetting but does hammer the point home !

An interesting and thought provoking article.