Half of parents allow phones at Christmas table

Nearly half of parents (48%) with children aged 18 or younger plan to allow phones at the Christmas dinner table this year, a survey has found.

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A survey of 2,009 UK adults, including 634 parents of zero to 18-year-olds, has found nearly four in 10 (38%) adults say smartphones have disrupted their festive season in some way.

Nearly one in five (19%) said children no longer properly interact with relatives at Christmas, the poll found, rising to nearly a third (30%) for parents of 0 to 18-year-olds.

It comes after the chief of the schools watchdog Ofsted raised concerns that social media is “chipping away” at children’s attention spans and promoting disrespectful behaviour.