A recent study has found that more than a quarter of parents rely on technology such as Alexa to read their children bedtime stories as they go to sleep. Charity BookTrust examined 1,000 parents with children under the age of twelve and asked if they are able to read to their children before bed. Depressingly, it was found that a large number of parents are relying on technology to send their young ones to sleep.
As Sky reports, only 28-percent of the parents reported that they are able to find time to read to their children at the end of the day. Just under a third blamed work and their commute for the lack of quality reading time and one in five said they felt too busy. With such little free time on hand, twenty-six percent of parents reported that they’ve used technology such as Alexa to tell stories at bedtime, while others said they’ve used phone and tablet apps such as YouTube to send their little ones to sleep.
However, 83-percent of parents stated that they would still prefer to read physical books to their children in the evenings, and voiced their concerns over relying too much on technology. Children’s author Francesca Simon, who write the Horrid Henry series, said: “I think it is dismaying because when I first saw these results, that 25% of parents subcontract their bedtime stories to tech, I was reminded of those science experiments where monkeys were given a wire-covered mother.
“You had the fur-covered one and the wire one. And of course the wire one is better than nothing. But it is just not a substitute for parents reading to their kids. I think people are really missing the point of what this is all about.”
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