Something I see a lot in the UK that really saddens me is parents engrossed with their smartphone and occasionally barking at the child to 'play where I can see you' every two minutes.

It makes me feel like snatching the phone from their hand and doing something rather unpleasant with it.

'...while their kids yell "look at me mummy" forlornly.'

One thing I have noticed a lot in Spain (where I live half the time) is kid's are much better behaved, generally, compared to the UK.

I think it's because children are adored and get attention everywhere they go. Unlike in the UK where they, often, seem to be more of a inconvenience to their parents otherwise perfect little lives.

I think it's really sad that I often see people on public transport in the UK just offload a device onto their children to placate them when they're bored.

Cut parents some slack and give children some credit. Everyone is going to be just fine (possibly better) if dad gets a tiny break and junior gets a small taste of independence.

This has nothing to do with independence. Kids need the attention of their parent. We are social beings. Those zombie parents kids develop into something the parents will later want to medicate shifting the blame on the kid.

In no way will there be something BETTER.

When I grew up, I had long periods of time during which my parents weren't around. I socialized with other children. Imagine that!

"Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago" | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15800082 two weeks ago.

I was suprised to see the following wasn't at the top:

>baldfat: The problem is that 90% of the time the parents are now on their phones.

You are aware that there are playgrounds and ages where parents have to be around their kids are you?

I am aware that the rules for that are very different from when I was a child and now.

It's got nothing to do with rules. It used to be common sense when I grew up. Also, there are bonding mechanisms in all kids that require feedback from a parent in their early years. This is where your parents attention is necessary. This is also where a kid can develop certain problems if they don't get this attention. My SO sees those failures of zombie parents every day at work. The only thing worse is the parents ignorance.

Same goes for playgrounds that are in difficult areas or conditions of course.

Huh. I spent plenty of time with my parents, and plenty of time without. Yet today's "common sense" says that almost everyone in my generation was raised by wolves.

It's common sense that exaggerations and selective ignorance kills discussions.

You're inferring a lot by viewing a parent on their smart phone.

RE Independence: I dare say a child can play for some minutes with other children without the need to interact with their parent. In fact, I'd go far as to say, interrupting a child's play is more detrimental than leaving them be and looking at your phone. In either case, I'm sure the parent has more insight than a third party passing by and is making an informed decision.

Agreed. I work from home and as such I get to spend much more time with my children than I otherwise would however the cost is that some of that time my attention is going to be divided.

And on another thread, everyone complains about parents following childen around on playground and not allowing them a little bit of independence.

Any stick is good enough to beat parents with, if you're a childless 20-something on a tech forum.

38 with two children.