Tired of your kids and relatives being glued to Netflix and Twitter while you’re trying to forge some everlasting memories this holiday season? You’re not alone: nearly 80% of 2,000 Americans surveyed by coupon service Groupon said they wanted a tech-free holiday.
Checking phones frequently seemed to be a common trend during the holidays, with more than 51% saying they check social media more frequently during the holidays. Parents revealed that they spend about four hours a day on their phones during the holidays
Of those who responded, 72% said that they check their phones Christmas morning before opening any gifts under the tree and 86% said that their children have complained about how much time they spend on their phone.
In addition, 53% of participants admitted to missing an important moment with their kids because they were too busy staring at their phone screens and 43% actually said they spend more time on their phone during Christmas than on any other regular day.
Despite the sobering statistics, some parents are adamant about making this holiday season different,, with 85% of all participants said they would like to be more “present” during this year’s holiday.
A little more than half said they were planning a digital device-free holiday dinner. And 31% of participants surveyed said they had previously banned phones during the holiday dinner during past years perhaps because technology can have a disruptive effect.
Fifty-five percent of participants said that a holiday dinner was interrupted by a ringing gadget while 64% said that is always at least one family member who is glued to their phone. Almost half of all participants (47%) said that their holidays have been ruined because of social media.
Participants also had lots of opinions about what gets underneath their skin around the holidays. Forty-percent and 38% of participants said they loathe when others brag about their gifts or where they’ve traveled to for the holidays, respectively, on social media, and 36% of participants also said they don’t like hearing from people they don’t hear from during the rest of the year around the holidays.
When questioned about why they were going to spend less time on their phones this year, 53% of participants said they want to spend more time together with family while 52% said they want to spend more time actually talking to their loved ones. Fifty-percent said they wanted to engage in more activities with their family members while 38% said they wanted to enjoy the season together as a family.
