Ever set the table for dinner, only to wait twenty minutes for your kids to finish their computer game or end their phone conversation with their BFF? One set of parents in Ilkley, West Yorkshire grew so fed up of their children's grumpy behaviour when denied access to the TV or their games console, that they decided to ban gadgets completely from their home.
Miranda and Richard Jones have six children, and the decision to ban gadgets occurred when their third child started throwing a tantrum whenever he couldn't watch TV, access the internet or play on one of the family's many games consoles. Up until then, the older three kids all had access to their own TV, a computer, a Nintendo DS and a Playstation.
Mrs Jones now says it was "best parenting decision she's ever made" and that the kids are far happier now.
The children, Joshua, 17, Sacha, 15, Theo, 13, Rudi, 7, Moses, 3, and one-year-old Nester, are now encouraged to see their friends more face-to-face, and play more traditional games. The ban seems to have offered the children more of a focus, with the older children taking on part-time jobs and the younger children enjoying outdoor play more. There's also been an increase in the number of conversations the children hold with their parents.
Whilst the children cannot do their schoolwork on a computer at home, it doesn't seem to have held them back. Joshua is currently celebrating after accepting a place at Cambridge.
What do you think about the ban on gadgets?
Source: Telegraph