A year-long study by online safety group Internet Matters into the impact of technology on parents and children in the same household found that children who say their parents are on their phones “quite a lot” when they try to talk to them had more negative experiences with technology.
The study’s researchers created an index to measure the digital wellbeing of young people in the UK, based on the impact being online had on the developmental, emotional, physical and social wellbeing of children.
“We’re proud to launch the first index of its kind, that we hope will shape how we help children navigate their digital world amid the rapid pace of change in technology and any hurdles along the way,” said Carolyn Bunting, chief executive of Internet Matters.
The study found that children with parents who better understand the emotional impact of the emotional world benefitted more from the positive wellbeing effects of digital activity. Meanwhile, children who...