Do parents pay more attention to their phones than their children?

A writer has criticised parents who spend a lot of time on their phones and pay little attention to their children.

Katharine Hill said that she believes kids are becoming "smartphone orphans" due to the the amount of time that parents spend looking at their phones. In a column for the Daily Mail, she said that children aren't the ones who need less screentime - it's parents. Hill wrote:

"There are huge advantages to having that little device in our pocket. We can answer emails, keep up with the news, make bank transfers, check the weather and even watch our favourite programme 24/7 any time, any place. "(But) when it comes to child development, parents have fallen into a trap of worrying about their offspring’s screentime, but not their own."

Hill referenced a story of a father and his son, the latter who was asking to play football. She said she watched as the father continued to look at his phone while his son begged him to go play. Hill asked parents to think about the last time they were "present" with their child - not using a smartphone or distracted by something else similar. She pointed to studies that showed that both parents are children were well aware of how distracted they tended to become while on their phones.

"(Researchers) asked parents how often they thought their use of devices interrupted interactions with their child on a daily basis. "Most agreed they were frequently distracted. Only 11 per cent claimed that they were unaffected."

The same study also saw the parents who admitting to being on their phones a lot report that their child had behavioural issues. "Of course, this is extreme neglect, not simply ignoring them occasionally to look at our mobile phone," she wrote. "But for parents who often barely look up from their screen, we do have to wonder if this is going to have some impact." Hill suggested making little steps to ensure that smartphones don't take over our lives, including charging them in a different room and have an "unplugged day" if possible. She also said she recognises sometimes, children to have to be ignored or kept busy, but that when parents are spending time with them, she thinks smartphones shouldn't be involved. So, what do you think? Do we use our phones around our children too much?