Gadgets at the table?

[Dave 123]

The three of us spent a great evening last night in Pizza Express in Ely with our friends.
It was my wife who noticed first, a family across the way, they looked fairly well heeled, dad, mum grandad, boy of 14(ish) and a boy of 7 (ish).
Both of the boys had iPad minis that never moved 6" inches from their noses, just enough room to get a slice of pizza in their mouths. There was NO communication between adults and children. It seemed like it was a normal situation!

Am I getting old? Is this how the world now works?

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Yes it seems the more connected everyone gets the less they talk to each other.

Sometimes when I am out and about I look around to see how many people I can see walking around with a mobile phone glued to their head or texting on one and it is a high proportion.

 

[EltonFrog]

Dint get me started on this. That behaviour really boils my p!$$

 

[MarkF]

Yep, I was in an Italian restaurant last week, a "girls night out" at the table next to us consisted of 6 women not talking to each other, they just "worked" their phones and ate.

 

[summerdays]

There are several rules in our house associated with mealtimes, no singing is one of them - it used to cause lots of arguments, and no technology is another. The only exception is when we are expecting a call needing a lift sort of call, something that had been arranged and then it sits nearby not being looked at unless it rings.

My nephews don't have any sort of rule and I've had my kids saying why can they have toys (when they were younger) or mentioning they play games on their mobiles (but they are used to the rules by now so don't complain). The idea of going out and then not talking, doesn't seem very special.

 

[DCLane]

No gadgets at the table in my house; we eat meals together at the table and talk. So no television meals and no gadgets. It works well.

Where else do children learn to communicate in a 'family' setting?

 

[Piemaster]

The internet is crap!
Kids would rather message their friends than sit and talk to me. Up to parents in OP to tell 'em to put it away and set an example by doing it themselves.

The internet is brilliant!
I'm now on a boat in South Atlantic, swapping emails with my wife and kids, both sat on our respective comfy chairs. Before we got married there was an occasional fax, carefully worded as I had to send it to the machine in her office. Suppose it was actually my handwriting though. I can stay in touch and instant message via Facebook friends on other ships, in other parts of the world.

Phone calls/people at front door winds me up at mealtimes too. They'll politely get told to sod off and get called back later. Unless it's double glazing salesmen, they just get told to sod off.

 

[MarkF]

Where else do children learn to communicate in a 'family' setting?

On the Wii, where do you think?

 

[cosmicbike]

Mealtime is family time, so I teach my kids table manners and chat. No books, toys or tech.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We won't even answer the telephone once we had sat down to eat. If it is urgent, family will leave a voicemail (which we can hear them leaving). We sit and eat our meal talking to each other. The laptop which lives on the table, gets closed down, the TV is off, the mobile is somewhere else (anyone's guess I still haven't got the hang of keeping track of it ).

It is our time together and it is not spent in the front of the TV either.

 

[the_mikey]

I don't have a table (or much furniture since I could be out of here anytime without a lot of warning) but always have a tablet computer at meal times, it's one of the few times I get to sit still and catch up, it also makes me take more time when eating. Same when between jobs, when on a break I take some time out to sit drink tea and catch up on work e-mails.

The idea of sitting around a table as a family is some kind of distant fantasy land that seems ever more unlikely to happen as housing costs increase.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I don't have a table (or much furniture since I could be out of here anytime without a lot of warning) but always have a tablet computer at meal times, it's one of the few times I get to sit still and catch up, it also makes me take more time when eating. Same when between jobs, when on a break I take some time out to sit drink tea and catch up on work e-mails.

The idea of sitting around a table as a family is some kind of distant fantasy land that seems ever more unlikely to happen as housing costs increase.

Are you a secret agent or summat?

 

[raleighnut]

If I've spent my time cooking a dinner I don't want to spoil it by doing anything other than enjoying it, luckily Maz agrees with me.

 

[the_mikey]

Are you a secret agent or summat?

Nah, just a busy engineer

 

[Lullabelle]

When I was a kid all meals were at the meal table and we talked to each other, TVC and I still do that. I do find it bemusing to see a young couple in a store looking at something but both are chatting on their phones and not actually communicating with each other.