Meet the family who pulled the plug on gadgets to bring back childhood

With a large, beautiful home in Ilkley, healthy good looks, happy smiles and devoted parents, the six Jones children are anything but deprived.

Yet some of their friends would disagree. The siblings, aged from one to 17, have no mobile phones, no TV, no computers and no games consoles.

These trappings of modern childhood are all banned, after their mother, Miranda, and father, Richard, decided to take a radical stand against the insidious influence of electronic screens.

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"The three older children had a TV, a computer, Nintendo DSs and a PlayStation, but then screens started to become a problem for my third child," says Miranda. "He wanted them all the time. When I tried to limit them, he threw a tantrum and was grumpy when he wasn't using them. I started to feel guilty about how much time I spent saying 'no' to him. I became the villain.

"I started banning them and noticed how much less grumpy he was when he didn't have access. That's when I thought, 'This is the right thing to do'. "

So the games and the computer were taken away, mobile phones were not bought and TV was limited. When the family moved to their present home three years ago, there was no aerial, and the goggle box went

altogether.

Joshua,17, Sacha, 15, Theo, 13, Rudi, seven, Moses, three, and Nestor, aged one, are allowed to watch DVDs at the weekend, but says

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Miranda: "I wanted the children to have a proper childhood. I wanted them to enjoy life and to get out and live it and, fortunately, the teenagers have been brilliant about it.

"They have accepted that spending time on computers and mobile phones is something other kids do and they don't.

"Instead, they go out more and see friends and have face to face conversations with them, though I've got Sacha a landline in her room so she can chat with friends in private there."

The older children are also busy with part-time jobs and schoolwork, but in their spare time they mill about, chat to their parents and read books.

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The younger ones are masters of creative play, love colouring in and getting muddy, and even though they sometimes ask, "Is it weekend yet?" they soon get bored with watching DVDs.

"We didn't make the decision for our benefit," says Miranda, a psychology graduate who manages Richard's veterinary practice. She's concerned people might think she and Richard run a boot camp, when in fact they have a relaxed home and are friendly and liberal forty-somethings whose decision has meant sacrificing precious "me time".

"When Moses comes home from nursery in the afternoon, I can't pop him in front of the TV. Instead, I play with him and give him my attention.

"The older ones will often come over and want to chat, which is wonderful, but if we had 'electronic babysitters' it would be easier to get on and do things and I know I'd have a lot more time for myself."

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It's an approach that many parents will admire as they wonder how to lure their offspring away from mobiles, MSN and Facebook.

A recent survey revealed that children spent a total of seven hours and 38 minutes on different screens each day.

Studies have also shown that too much time on the internet can

contribute to depression and agoraphobia.

"I think that's an under-estimate. Screens are taking over huge swathes of children's lives," says Miranda, who believes that taking them away altogether is easier than trying to limit them. "There is no point asking for them because we haven't got them," she says.

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She and Richard have had their critics, mainly in schools, where teachers have indicated that children need computers to research and write up homework.

Yet Joshua has just been awarded a place at Cambridge.

"The schools have moaned at us and implied that we are denying our children something and that hurts. I've had to fight my corner," says Miranda.

"But they have computers at school and we use books for research at home.

"I have spent a fortune on Amazon, but it's a lot easier for a child to find what it needs in a relevant book than it is to go on Google where there are reams of information and most of it isn't easily understood by children.

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"I would also say that not having a computer to spell check everything means they have to be able to spell.

"We've also had people say that our children might not be any good at IT because they haven't got computers at home, but they're absolutely fine and they all do well."

Another worry is that the children would be alienated from their peers.

"I admit I was worried about that at first, but they are lovely and they're popular. They aren't seen as nerds," says Miranda.

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"I'm amazed at that. There are so many TV channels that children in the playground now watch lots of different programmes and I buy mine box

sets of whatever they want, including Doctor Who.

"The only exception would be seven-year-old boys playing Ben 10 that Rudi has never seen and X Factor, which everyone seems to talk about."

So far so good, but there are many doom-mongers who predict that denying children now will lead to screen addiction in later life.

"I hear that a lot and it might happen. I have told the children they can have a mobile phone when they are 18. I have one and Richard and I have a TV in our room that we watch sometimes later on at night when the children are in bed. I also use the internet for shopping.

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"The children will be free to do what they want when they grow up but I can't imagine they'll spend all their time glued to the TV or computer. They know there is more to life."

Having managed for the best part of seven years without screens, she has no regrets and can think of no disadvantages.

"Everyone seems happy, though I know we are lucky to have quite a big house with lots of space for everyone," says Miranda. "To be honest, I think it is the best parenting decision I have ever made. I don't think

I'll get to 70 and say:, 'I wish I'd have let my children go on the internet more'."

How much Television is too much for young children?

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Research by Glasgow University found three-year-olds spend just 25 minutes a day running around, but often hours in front of the television.

Dr Aric Sigman, psychologist and author of Remotely Controlled: How Television is Damaging Our Lives, recommends no television at all for under-threes, no more than one hour a day for children under 12 and a maximum of one-and-a-half hours for those aged between 12 and 14.

Excessive television viewing has been linked to obesity, limited vocabulary and short concentration spans.

While a report by the National Literacy Trust said children between two and five-years-old many benefit from good-quality educational TV, excessive viewing was linked to slower development, with some children not being able to speak properly by the time they start school.

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