Family switch off IT

SUSAN MAUSHART reached digital breaking point two years ago when she saw how the virtual age had become her family’s real life. She would text her three teenage children to come to the dinner table and hadn’t had eye contact with them for months. When she struck up a conversation, it was usually with the back of their heads, so engrossed were they in their gaming consoles and laptops.

Ms Maushart has now written The Winter Of Our Disconnect, which charts a six-month experiment in which she pulled the plug on all digital devices. It confirms what many parents fear about the adverse effects of electronic media on family life.

- The Northern Echo: Cut Off Point