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Speaker 1: Yes, so it's weird that it takes a princess to

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Speaker 1: warn us about this. But Kate Middleton has warned parents

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Speaker 1: against phones at the dinner table. She's written an essay

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Speaker 1: in collaboration with a Harvard Medical School professor about the

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Speaker 1: dangers of smartphones and social media eroding family connections. She says,

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Speaker 1: when we check our phones during conversations, scroll through social

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Speaker 1: media during family dinners, or respond to emails while playing

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Speaker 1: with our children, we're not just being distracted. We are

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Speaker 1: withdrawing the basic form of love that human connection requires.

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Speaker 1: And she then goes on to say families must quote

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Speaker 1: protect sacred spaces for genuine connection, family dinners, conversations, moments

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Speaker 1: of genuine eye contact, and engaged listening. Now, some in

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Speaker 1: our office today have accused her of being milk toast

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Speaker 1: and picking the most boring subject on the world to

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Speaker 1: take on. But isn't she actually on to something incredibly

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Speaker 1: important here? The family unit is the most fundamental and

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Speaker 1: important part of society, and teaching our kids as parents

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Speaker 1: is the most important job we have role. Modeling good

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Speaker 1: habits is more important than we realize. Good habits that

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Speaker 1: lead to good physical health, good mental health In the future,

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Speaker 1: and yet so many parents are actually distracted by our phones,

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Speaker 1: sitting around scrolling, allowing screens to creep into the time

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Speaker 1: that we should be spending with our kids. You talk

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Speaker 1: to a year one primary teacher, or even go to

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Speaker 1: a kindy teacher, they'll tell you that they're seeing some

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Speaker 1: kids who cannot form sentences properly, even at the age

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Speaker 1: of five, because they spend too much time on the screen,

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Speaker 1: not talking to their parents, and their parents are presumably

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Speaker 1: doing exactly the same attached to a screen. I have

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Speaker 1: rules in the house. The husbandly husband constantly breaks them

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Speaker 1: and is constantly reminded about them. No phones at the table,

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Speaker 1: no screens in the car. TV time is a treat,

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Speaker 1: is a treat for weekends, in school holidays. For the

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Speaker 1: most part, some exceptions, like sickness. You know, you got

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Speaker 1: to bend the rules a wee bit. The kids accept

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Speaker 1: it because they don't know any different. Kate and William

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Speaker 1: have rules in their house. None of their kids have

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Speaker 1: smart phones, even though the oldest is twelve and probably

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Speaker 1: about to qualify for one. You would say, Kate is

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Speaker 1: onto something here. It's probably one of the most insidious

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Speaker 1: issues of our time. Good on her for pipe Up, Milk,

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Speaker 1: Toast or Not. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,

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Speaker 1: Listen live to News Talks it B from four pm weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio