When you hear the word technology do you shudder inside and prefer to stay well away from gadgets? Half of British parents feel the same way and turn to their children for gadget guidance.
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E.ON carried out the survey and found that children are certainly clued-up with the latest smartphone or gadget must-have, with one in five acquiring technological skills before the age of 5.
40% of modern parents admit to helping their own mums and dads to work the VCR when they were younger and 80% still feel they're better at operating gadgets today than their own parents were. Yet over a third of today's parents feel they now need to impress their own children with their gadget knowledge.
82% of technophobe parents do believe that gadgets are useful in running their households. E.ON is urging parents to try its ‘Saving Energy Toolkit’ to monitor their home energy use and see how this compares to similar homes.
Although many parents fear technology 33% of parents revealed that the laptop/tablet is the all-time greatest gadget invention. Followed by the smartphone with 23% and a further 18% prefer the TV.
However, man yapernts would be happy to see the back of the games console(19%), the smartwatch (12%), smartphone (11%) and Sat Nav (8%).
Sara Vaughan, E.ON's Director of Strategy and Regulation, said: “In a world of constant technological advancement, it's hardly surprising that many parents are still seeking help from their children - a whole generation on from when we helped our own parents programme the family VCR.
"Although some gadgets can be difficult to master at first, technology can offer many advantages and actually help parents manage a busy household. With tools like our Saving Energy Toolkit, parents can see how much energy their family is using quickly and easily to help ensure they're using and paying for no more energy than they need.”
Catherine Hanly, Editor at Mumsnet, added: “Many parents are familiar with wrestling fruitlessly with a remote control for several hours, only to hand it over to their children who effortlessly connect to the internet, programme the recorder and pause the TV – all with the simple flick of a button.
"E.ON's Saving Energy Toolkit is one way of helping parents to regain control of their energy use. And by allowing families to see how their energy compares to similar homes, everyone can get involved in seeing how their energy use can be lowered.”
E.ON is also a founding partner of Go ON UK which aims to help people who currently lack the support or skills they need to get online. For further information about E.ON and the Energy Saving Toolkit, visit: eonenergy.com
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