Young children are spending record time on hand-held devices. According to new data published on Thursday, the amount of time under-5s devote to watching TV and video content via such appliances is now 2.8 hours, per day. That's an increase three out of four infants aged under five have regular access to a computer or mobile tablet. Last year, they spent 2.6 hours each day, but this has now risen to 2.8 hours. In addition, the majority of pre-school children also have their very own gadget.

Children are being taught to be rude and demanding by their interactions with voice recognition gadgets, a new report has warned. Youngsters have been quick to embrace smart assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, who respond to any command that is barked at them. This new'Alexa generation' is learning less-civil ways of communicating that could spill over into their interactions with other people, research suggests. One solution could be to add a setting that requires a polite inquiry in order to get a response. Children are being taught to be rude by their interactions with voice recognition gadgets, a new report has warned.