The problem seems to be the parents, not the technology. It reminds me of a VSauce episode that brought up the following interesting antidotes:
> In 1871, the Sunday Magazine published a line that may as well have been written today about texting. "Now we fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk over a real sheet of paper." And the Journal of Education in 1907 lamented that at a modern family gathering, silent around the fire, each individual has his head buried in his favorite magazine. [1,2]
If the parents weren't lost in their phones, they'd be lost in something else.
> In 1871, the Sunday Magazine published a line that may as well have been written today about texting. "Now we fire off a multitude of rapid and short notes, instead of sitting down to have a good talk over a real sheet of paper." And the Journal of Education in 1907 lamented that at a modern family gathering, silent around the fire, each individual has his head buried in his favorite magazine. [1,2]
If the parents weren't lost in their phones, they'd be lost in something else.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0x7ho_IYc
[2] https://sites.google.com/site/vsaucetranscripts/scripts/juve...