The Princess of Wales’ early years center is funding research to help parents deal with the issues that parents are experiencing with their homes’ growing gadgets.
Kate Middleton ‘s early years centre is offering a six-figure sum in research funding to find solutions that will help parents combat the distractions caused by gadgets that interfere with family life. Kate’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood is inviting researchers to submit proposals to tackle what has been dubbed “technoference”, which can disrupt parent-child relationships, something which Kate spoke passionately about this week in her first major speech in two years.
The news comes shortly after Prince William, 43, discussed his and Kate’s approach to technology at home and revealed the topic of Prince George, 12, getting a mobile phone was becoming a “tense issue”. The chosen study will get £100,000 in funding and work with families across the UK to understand when and why this issue arises and test practical ways to minimise its impact and the findings used to shape resources for professionals such as health visitors and early years educators.#
When William and Kate revealed to a journalist in Brazil about their recent Earthshot Prize trip that they still refuse to let George, who turns 13 next summer, use a cell phone, adding, “It is really difficult. Our kids don’t use phones.
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“Gerald will have a secondary school with limited access, perhaps.” It’s getting to the point where it’s starting to get a little tense. But I believe he is aware of why we communicate our disagreements.
In an essay she co-wrote and published last month, Kate, the mother of three, also reacted to the “epidemie of disconnection” created by smartphones and other devices, and she urged society to “invest in the relationships you have with each other.”
There are numerous studies on how digital devices impact relationships, but there is currently little evidence about what is causing people to use them when it interferes with family life, according to Christian Guy, executive director of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. The center aims to close these research gaps so that we can find the solutions that can truly affect families’ lives.
Kate, who is also mum to Princess Charlotte, 10, and seven-year-old Louis, voiced her worries surrounding the impact of modern technology on family life in the thought-provoking essay, co-written with Professor Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development.
In her capacity as lead author, the princess claimed that fostering strong social and emotional skills among children would help them form successful relationships in later life.
It stated that while new technology offers many advantages, we must also acknowledge that it contributes to this disconnect epidemic in a complex and frequently troubling way. Digital devices frequently do the opposite of what traditional devices do in order to keep us connected.
Our attention span is stifled by our smartphones, tablets, and computers, which prevent us from giving each other the attention they need in relationships.
“We sit together in the same room while our minds are scattered across dozens of apps, notifications, and feeds. We’re physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us.”
Source: Mirror
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