Children should not click selfies, says study

Selfies should not be encouraged in children due to the risk that children fail to 'experience anything, except through a lens', a leading psychologist has claimed.

The consultant clinical psychologist urged families to give children more freedom, away from indoor pursuits which can lead to 'excessive exposure' to screens and social media.

This means turning off mobile phones during precious family time – and not being tempted to take selfies.

According to Dr Godsi one should switch off or leave mobile devices behind when out with family. The method should be applied during meal times as well. Youngsters should have 'real fun' instead of 'pretending' to be enjoying themselves for the camera

This comes out after a survey of 2,000 parents by outdoor education provider. Sixty-eight per cent cited this as their main activity shared with children, followed by going to the cinema (35 per cent) and playing computer games (24 per cent).

The average age of the parents' children was ten, while 445 were seven.

Asked to look back to when all their youngsters were seven, 85 per cent of families said their sons or daughters had never gone camping.