News Round Up
by Patrick O'Connor
RESTLESS kids in the back of the car? Hand them a tablet.
That seems to be the conclusion of a survey carried out by Disney UK to mark the launch of its new Disney Junior Play app.
The Daily Mail says they asked 5,000 British parents with children under the age of 10 how they kept them happy on long journeys and more than 80 per cent admitted handing over devices with games and apps loaded.
Apparently only a fifth of parents travelling without games and apps enjoyed the same amount of quiet time.
Parenting expert and broadcaster, Liz Fraser said: “Tablets and smartphones are fantastic tools to make the journey more bearable for everyone - and we can all talk about the games together, and interact while they’re playing and learning. I wish they’d been around years ago!”
However the Daily Telegraph reports on a warning by The Association of Teachers and Lecturers that rising numbers of children are unable to perform simple tasks such as using building blocks because of overexposure to iPads.
The association claims that rising numbers of infants lack the motor skills needed to play with building blocks because of an 'addiction' to tablet computers and smartphones and that many children aged just three or four can 'swipe a screen' but have little or no dexterity in their fingers after spending hours glued to iPads.
And in a further damning statement, they claim that some older children were unable to complete traditional pen and paper exams because their memory had been eroded by overexposure to screen-based technology.
It's a changing world...the Mail reports that eight new species of slugs have set up homes in UK gardens, fields and woodlands with most having come from the continent and some are up to six inches long.
Zoologist Ben Rowson, of the National Museum Wales, collected more than 1,000 slugs from over 200 sites for a comprehensive guide to Britain's slug life.
In 1953 at the age of 17, Brian Rollings saved for months to buy an Austin Seven Opal Tourer for £140.
He had just passed his driving test and it was his dream car. And now 61 years later Brian, from Walsall in the West Midlands, has bought it again.
Brian told the Daily Express: “I’d got a new job and wanted a car so put an ad in the local paper for an Austin Seven Opal, my dream car. When I drove it home for the first time I felt like a king.”
Two years after buying the car, he traded it in but years later, after becoming interested in classic cars, retired engineer Brian decided to track the Austin down and after 10 years of searching, found it 18 miles from his home. He re-bought it for £4,000 and has spent £10,000 on restoring it to its former glory.
Brian said: “ I have spent far more on it than it is worth but to me it is priceless.”
Spare a thought for 31 year old Sharif Uddin who took his girlfriend Stephanie Jackson on a romantic getaway to Bath with the intention of proposing to her.
Unfortunately, says the Daily Star, Sharif got so nervous after getting down on one knee that he fumbled the £1,500 custom designed diamond ring he had bought and dropped it into a three foot deep murky canal below!
In desperation he dived straight in to try and retrieve it but the couple had to spend three hours searching through mud and sediment before finally finding it.
Stephanie said: “We ended up buying sieves and wellies and after about 10 trips to the bottom, scooping up mud and that, we finally managed to find the ring.”
A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the couple and cheered when the ring was recovered. The happy ending was concluded when Stephanie said 'yes' to the proposal.
Oh dear, we Brits are getting heavier!
A Daily Star story reveals that we're 5lbs heavier than this time last year. A survey by UKMedix.com warns that if Brits continue to gain weight at the current rate it will mean putting on two stone over the next five years!
Spokesperson Sarah Bailey commented: “Unfortunately, we have already been warned that we are getting heavier year on year, so the fact that we are gaining weight is no surprise.
“However, 5lbs is quite a big gain – almost half a stone! If we keep this up every year, we will very quickly see our weight spiral out of control, which could result in health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and mobility restrictions.
“All of these things can have a massive impact on our quality of life. That is a very scary thought.”
Reference lists:
The Express (www.express.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
Daily Star (www.dailystar.co.uk)
Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph co.uk)