How do you communicate with your child?
Research conducted by Asda, amongst parents of students, revealed that only a third of parents now has a weekly phone call with their off-spring, and one in twenty kids never receive a phone call from mum and dad during term time.
This compares to a huge 71 per cent of students who never call home according to their parents.
Whilst phone calls may be falling out of favour, 91 per cent of parents will text kids whilst they are away with the three quarters admitting to texting every week. However, parents are divided when it comes to keeping tabs, with mums three times more likely to send a message every day than dads.
Mums are also ahead when it comes to emailing – nearly half (48 per cent) of the mums questioned send emails every week compared to just 36 per cent of dads.
The study also reveals the rise in popularity of video calls which over 40 per cent of parents will use, with almost a fifth of parents using webcams or headsets on a weekly basis.
Andrew Thompson, technology expert for Asda, said: “It’s no surprise that families are now less reliant on traditional phone calls. What’s interesting is that despite this trend, most families are talking more than ever. You could call this the dawn of the ‘yaptop’ computer.”
Last week, Microsoft announced that its VoIP software package Skype, now has 280 million users worldwide. This growth has accelerated in the last year with a jump of 30 million users since May of this year, suggesting that whilst families and friends are keen to talk, the web is making conventional phone calls less attractive.
Andrew added: “Texting, emails and social media allow us to leave messages all over the place. This can be really useful for parents who are trying to connect with students who, as we know, live in a different time zone.”
FemaleFirst @FemaleFirst_UK
Shabana Adam
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