Kate's worry screen use leading to a 'disconnect'

THE Princess of Wales has expressed concern that an overuse of smartphones and computer screens is leading to an "epidemic of disconnection" that disrupts family life.

- HOLLY MORGAN

"While digital devices promise to keep us connected, they frequently do the opposite," Catherine writes in an essay written with Professor Robert Waldinger from Harvard Medical School. In the report, Catherine suggests that smartphones and gadgets have become a "constant distraction, fragmenting our focus" undermining the time that families spend together.

"We're physically present but mentally absent, unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us," the princess pens in an essay that's part of her early years education campaign.