As peak holiday season fast approaches, a new study by villa holidays specialist Oliver’s Travels has uncovered a shocking statistic regarding how many children say their parents spend too much time glued to their mobiles and how it makes them feel.
Oliver’s Travels polled over 400 families across the UK to lift the lid on Britain’s holiday habits. When they polled parents to ask their children ‘Does Daddy or Mummy use their phone too much when on holiday?’ an enormous 40 per cent said ‘yes’. Asked how this makes them feel, over 42 per cent said they feel ignored.
When parents were asked if their children complain about their mobile phone usage on holiday, over 51 per cent of parents said ‘no’. However, when Oliver’s Travels asked parents ‘How do you feel about using social media on holiday?’, 40 per cent of parents responded with ‘no problem’ yet over 20 per cent said they ‘absolutely hate it’ on holiday.
Oliver Bell from Oliver’s Travel said: ‘It’s a fairly disappointing set of results to uncover during our family survey. It seems these days we all spend our working lives in front of some sort of device; to then go away and use a mobile phone so much that 42 per cent of children are feeling ignored, that’s sad. Holidays are where memories can be made for a lifetime and it’s unfortunate to think this special time is being lost to the pursuit of likes, shares and other type of digital engagement’.
Oliver’s Travels also caught up with a selection of families for a video to ask whole families about their guilty pleasures and naughty antics on holiday. To view the video and read more about the study findings, click here.
