DadTalk

Texts, emails, calls and Facebook - parental monitoring tools ?

The average parent sends 600 texts, 312 emails and spends 28 hours on the phone every year – keeping track of the kids, it emerged yesterday.

A study carried out amongst 5000 mums and dads revealed the extraordinary lengths modern parents have to go to keep a watchful eye on their off-spring.

The average parent sends 600 texts, 312 emails and spends 28 hours on the phone every year – keeping track of the kids, it emerged yesterday. 

A study carried out amongst 5000 mums and dads revealed the extraordinary lengths modern parents have to go to keep a watchful eye on their off-spring. 

As well as regular emails, parents also bombard children with texts and phone calls in a desperate bid for family time and get-togethers according to the study by National Family Week.

In fact one in five parents admit the best method to keep track of their child’s whereabouts is via social networking sites like Facebook.

And 20% of parents claim they stand a better chance of talking to their child if it’s technology.

And more than half of parents think their children are more concerned with their mobile phone, laptop and social networking than family life according to the report.

Nick Henry, Founder of National Family Week which runs from 30th May – 5th June said:  ‘It’s inevitable that children get preoccupied with technology and it’s only natural that they forge their own friendships and social groups as they get older.”

‘’Having to contact your children and immediate family through texts, emails and social networking sites to track them down is just a consequence of modern life.

‘’It could be argued that twenty years ago it would be harder to keep track of the family throughout the day as so few of us were contactable like we are now.

‘’Advances in technology have had other advantages such as allowing families to communicate over great distances, brought young and old together and helped to prevent feelings of isolation.”

43% of parents said when they do try and plan a family get together it’s hard to try and pin everyone down – which bothers two thirds of the parents polled.

More than three quarters of parents believe that family life in the UK has suffered at the hands of technology according to the study.

Of the parents polled 17% said that mobiles phones and particularly texting had an impact on cherished time with the family and 16% blame the TV as the biggest intruder on family time.