IT used to be straight to bed without supper for boys and girls who misbehaved.
But with many children now firmly attached to their electronic gadgets, parents are opting to punish them by confiscating their iPads, smartphones and portable games consoles instead.
The only problem is that more than half said their offspring have thrown a tantrum - which some refer to as ‘an iPaddy’ - after their devices are taken away from them.
A quarter of British households now own tablet computers and children are becoming increasingly attached to the devices.
In a survey of 2,000 parents, eight out of ten who had children aged 14 or under said they now restrict their use of gadgets as their preferred method of punishment.
The research found that on average, children spend nearly two hours a day on their favourite gadgets, while more than a quarter spend more than four hours a day staring at a screen.
Confiscating their digital device was reckoned the most effective form of punishment by parents as it stopped their children being able to communicate with their friends.
Ghadi Hobeika, of online retailer Pixmania, which commissioned the survey, said: ‘Gadgets such as tablets and smartphones provide both a method of communication and a form of entertainment, so when parents remove them, this becomes a double whammy.’
The research also found that more than one in ten children under the age of four regularly used a tablet computer.
Although half of parents admitted to buying their children digital devices, more than 70 per cent were concerned their offspring had grown too attached to them.
More than half of parents said they had banned their children from playing with them, or removed them for a period of time.
The most popular gadget bought for children was a games console such as an Xbox or PlayStation, owned by 46 per cent of youngsters, followed by MP3 music players and smartphones, which 30 per cent possess.
However not only are many children spending increasing amounts of time on their gadgets, they are running up huge bills for their unsuspecting parents.
Last month, it emerged a five-year-old had run up a bill of GBP1,700 in charges on a so-called ‘free’ iPad game.
Luckily his parents managed to persuade Apple that it was a mistake and got their money back.
However customers who accidentally rack up large bills on iTunes do not have an automatic right to a refund.
Daily Mail
