Overwhelmed: Family life is being eroded because people are bombarded with life online. |
Family life is being disrupted because parents and children are overwhelmed by the huge volumes of emails and social messaging updates they are handling each day, according to a new study. As a result one in three of us are now desperate to cut down our use of Twitter and Facebook as well as emails. Surprisingly the study, by Cambridge University, found children as well as adults preferred to communicate face to face. More than half of all families said a 'technology-free' time is important and a third of parents said technology had disrupted family life. The findings led family groups to warn that if parents end up spending more time checking emails and social networks than with their children it could have a detrimental effect on the home. Amongst children aged 10 to 18, who have grown up with new technology, 38% admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the volume of messages. Similar numbers of adults felt the same way, with 34 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds agreeing. Justine Roberts, founder of parenting website Mumsnet, warned: 'Social media is something we have to keep a watch on because it can eat into your life. 'We encourage our members to switch off because otherwise you can't give your kids and husband the time they need.' She added: 'Websites like Facebook and Twitter can be enjoyable and addictive but, like with everything, it needs to be taken in moderation.' The survey also discovered that 43 percent of children and 33 percent of adults are taking steps to reduce their reliance on messaging, text and networking. But only one in five said they would be reducing the number of text messages they are sending and even less said they will be writing fewer emails. Nearly 43 percent said they have had a cull of their Facebook 'friends' and followers on Twitter in an attempt to cut down on the amount of time spend on the websites. As part of the research, 63 families were asked to keep a diary of their use of communications technology. More than 1,250 adults were questioned in the research which was paid for by BT – the biggest broadband provider in the country. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
一項新調查發(fā)現,由于父母和孩子每日忙于處理大量的電子郵件和更新社交網站信息,英國家庭生活正遭受干擾。 為此三分之一的英國人現在急于減少對Twitter、Facebook和電子郵件的使用。 令人驚訝的是,劍橋大學的這一調查發(fā)現成人和孩子都更喜歡面對面交流。超過半數的家庭稱,“脫離科技產品”的時間很重要,還有三分之一的父母說科技已經擾亂了家庭生活。 在調查結果出來后,參與研究的家庭團隊提出警告說,如果父母們以后花更多時間查看電子郵箱、上社交網,而不多和自己的孩子相處,就會對家庭生活產生有害影響。 伴隨著新科技成長起來的年齡在10歲和18歲之間的小孩當中,有38%承認巨大的信息量讓自己不知所措。年齡在25歲到34歲之間的成人中有34%也有同感。持這一觀點的成人和小孩人數持平。 家長網站Mumsnet的創(chuàng)始人賈斯汀?羅伯茨警告說:“社交媒體是我們要警惕的一個東西,因為它可能會侵蝕你的生活。 “我們鼓勵自己的會員少上社交網站,否則你就沒有足夠的時間給你的孩子和丈夫?!?/p> 她補充說:“Facebook和Twitter這樣的網站可以帶來樂趣,讓人上癮,但是,就像其他一切事物一樣,它也需要有節(jié)制地使用?!?/p> 調查還發(fā)現43%的孩子和33%的成人正采取行動減少自己對電郵、短信和社交網站的依賴。 不過只有五分之一的人說,他們會減少自己發(fā)送的短信數量,更少的人說自己會少寫電子郵件。 近43%的人說,為了減少自己泡在社交網站上的時間,他們已經刪除了不少Facebook好友和Twitter粉絲。 作為調查的一部分,研究人員請63個家庭保留他們每日使用通訊技術的記錄。這一調查是由英國最大的寬帶供應商BT出資進行的,訪問了1250多名成人。 相關閱讀 (中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: disrupt: to make it difficult for something to continue in the normal way(擾亂;使中斷;打亂) end up: to find yourself in a place or situation that you did not intend or expect to be in(最終成為;最后處于) detrimental: harmful(有害的;不利的) messaging: the sending and processing of e-mail by computer(編寫、發(fā)送、處理電子郵件) cull: the act of killing some animals (usually the weakest ones) of a group in order to prevent the group from getting too large (為防止動物種群量過多而通常對最弱者的)選擇性宰殺 |