Children and parents who use smartphones spend more time in each other’s company but less time TALKING with one another
- Children are spending longer at home each day but alone on their smart phones
- Families still take 90 minutes a day for shared activities like eating together
- Parental concerns about safety may be preventing children being out for longer
- The study indicates technology makes staying-in more enjoyable than before
Children are spending around an extra half hour with their families each day compared to the year 2000 – but most of this time is being spent on smartphones.
Researchers found that the time children spent engaged with their parents was unchanged over almost two decades, despite the extra time in their presence.
The 30 extra minutes children spend with their folks compared to 19 years ago is not spent engaging in shared activities, including eating and watching TV.
This means that children are not any more or less involved in shared family activities than they were in the early noughties.
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A report shows that children are spending on average more than half an hour at home than they did two decades ago. But it’s no more ‘quality’ family time – it’s time spent in front of a mobile or tablet screen (stock image)
A study of 2,500 British eight to 16 year olds and their parents – covering the year 2000 to 2015 – shows mobile devices are ‘now embedded into family life’, researchers say.
For all of the extra 30 minutes children are at home with their parents they say they are alone – which researchers refer to as ‘alone-together’ time.
Mobile devices were used during all aspects of family time in 2015 but were most heavily used during alone-together time.
Dr Killian Mullan of Oxford University’s Centre for Time Use Research, said: ‘It may have been fuelled by smartphones, tablets and computers making the home more enjoyable.
‘Our analysis has found the overall family space has expanded, but it’s this alone-together time, when children and parents are in the same location but children are reporting that they are alone, which has made up the increase.
The data does not explain what has actually caused the change over the last two decades, but the researchers suspect that safety concerns also play a part.
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Dr Mullan team also found no evidence that smartphones and tablets have displaced traditional family activities such as family meals and watching TV together.
Families still spend an average 90 minutes per day doing these activities, much unchanged between 2000 and 2015.
Dr Mullan added: ‘Given this large increase in alone time, it is perhaps reassuring we also found no decline in the amount of time families spent in shared activities.
‘This suggests parents still value key aspects of traditional family life, such as family meals or shared hobbies, and seek to prioritise them in the face of pressure from technological change.’
Mobile devices were used during all aspects of family time in 2015 – but were most heavily used during alone time in the same home.
The study took place over a period that saw the rapid spread of high-quality home internet services, smartphones and tablets.
It was based on a nationally representative sample of participants who kept close to 5,000 daily diaries.
In 2000, children and parents spent an average 347 minutes per day in the same location.
Of this, 95 minutes was alone-together time and 84 minutes were spent in shared activities such as eating or watching TV
By 2015, on average, children and parents spent 379 minutes per day in the same location, an increase of 32 minutes.
Of this, 136 minutes was alone-together time and 87 minutes were spent in shared activities such as eating or watching TV
In 2015, children and parents used mobile devices used for 38 per cent of total family time, 47 per cent of alone-together time, and 27 per cent of shared activity time
Older children aged 14 to 16 spent less time in shared activities with their parents and more time using devices, which was concentrated during alone-together time.
ARE PARENTS IGNORANT ABOUT CHILDREN’S ONLINE BEHAVIOUR?
More than half of teenagers say they have been victims of cyber-bullying, a study found in October.
But parents are ignorant about their children’s online behaviour and experiences – largely underestimating what they get up to while on the internet.
The survey of 320 teenagers by the Sir John Cass’s Foundation revealed that 53 per cent had had their picture posted online to embarrass them.
However, only a fifth (22 per cent) of parents believed that their child had this experience online.
Nearly one in five teens (17 per cent) reported being threatened online, whilst fewer than 10 per cent of parents believed this had happened to their child.
The report, Beyond The School Gates, was put together by University of Buckingham psychologist Dr Masa Popovac and the Sir John Cass’s Foundation and was based on detailed interviews with 320 teenagers aged 13-18 years and 130 of their parents.
Co author Dr Stella Chatzitheochari, a sociologoist at the University of Warwick, added: ‘Our study is the first to measure the rapid spread of mobile devices across family life, revealing that children and parents will spend time on devices such as smartphones and tablets even while watching TV or eating together.
‘The research shows device use is now embedded into family life. While we did not find any significant changes in the time family members spend interacting and doing things together, it is certainly possible that mobile devices distract people’s attention during family activities, leading to feelings that the quality of family relationships is under threat.
‘However, it is worth noting that mobile device use may be complementing family activities and also help children and young people build and maintain friendships outside of the home.
‘Future research should build on our data to explore more deeply the ways in which the quality of family interactions is affected by mobile device use.’
The full report of the study is published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
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