The Princess of Wales’s Early Years Centre has today announced an exciting new project, which will involve investing £100,000 in research on how parents can tackle distractions caused by gadgets that disrupt family life. Princess Catherine’s Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood is inviting researchers to submit proposals on how to combat “technoference,” which can cause unwanted distractions in parents’ relationships with their children.
The centre will fund £100,000 to support the new study, which will work with families across the UK to understand when and why these distractions occur, and test practical ways to reduce their impact. It will, in turn, help to shape future resources for practitioners such as health visitors and early years educators.
Princess Catherine’s new project aims to understand and explore ways to help families build stronger bonds in early childhood by reducing distractions from devices and assisting parents in finding a healthy tech-life balance.
The future Queen last month spoke about how excessive screen time is creating an “epidemic of disconnection” in our society, which can deeply affect family life, in an essay she co-authored with Professor Robert Waldinger from Harvard Medical School
The princess said that “we are physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us.”
Princess Catherine noted that while new technology has many benefits, it can play a “complex and often troubling role” in interpersonal relationships between parents and their children.
She said: ”While digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite”.
The princess then urged society to “invest in the relationships you have with each other”.
Christian Guy, executive director of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, said: “There have been numerous studies about how digital devices impact relationships, but there is currently a lack of evidence about what is causing people to turn to their digital devices at times when it is interrupting family life and, importantly, how to help people reduce this unwanted interference.
“The centre is seeking to address these gaps in research so we find the solutions to make a real difference to families’ lives.”
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