'Too much screen time damages family life', says Princess of Wales

The Princess of Wales has written a warning that digital technology, while having benefits, adds to an “epidemic of distraction.”

Writing in an essay entitled The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World she comments that “while digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite.”

The paper was co-written with Professor Robert Waldinger of Harvard Medical School and published by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. “Our smartphones, tablets, and computers have become sources of constant distraction,” they write, “fragmenting our focus and preventing us from giving others the undivided attention that relationships require … We’re physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us.”

The Princess goes on to highlight the tendency to check our phones mid-conversation or respond to emails while playing with our children. This distraction that technology can offer fuels a worrying trend of disconnection and loneliness, with young people aged 16 to 24 reporting as the loneliest of all.

Citing the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been running since 1938, the essay highlights that the best factor for a happy, healthy life is the quality of our connections with other people.

Technology offers an unprecedented opportunity for connection, yet too often is a key factor in feeling disconnected from others around us. The Princess of Wales comments that “our undivided attention is the most precious gift we can give another person. Yet, increasingly, it’s the most difficult gift to offer.”

The essay concludes with a call to bring our attention back to those around us, and especially to our families.

“The evidence is clear: if you could invest in just one thing to help you and your family thrive, invest in the relationships you have with each other … And that begins with a simple, deliberate act. Look the people you care about in the eye and be fully there – because that is where love begins.”