Parents blame brats' slipping school grades on crap internet speeds

Without the distraction of pissing around online, you'd think kids might stand a better chance of doing their homework. But it seems some parents blame their darlings' performance at school on crap broadband speeds.

One in seven think sub-par internet speeds are negatively impacting their child's education, according to a survey of 1,000 respondents by price comparison site uSwitch.

On average, parents say their child does 3.9 hours of homework a week with around half of that (1.9 hours) allegedly requiring access to the internet.

Suspiciously, the top resource named was that well-known educational tool YouTube (40 per cent), followed by credible reference site Wikipedia (38 per cent) and then the somewhat more reputable BBC Bitesize (32 per cent).

Surely we're not expecting the little dears to read books instead?

The most popular devices for doing homework online included laptops (61 per cent), tablets (54 per cent) mobile phones (37 per cent), followed by games consoles and smart TVs (both 11 per cent). Hmmmm.

However, the research found a startling anomaly. "Surprisingly, parents in rural areas, which suffer the most from slower speeds, are the least likely to report their children are falling behind," it said.

A mystery indeed.

Earlier this month, digital minister Matt Hancock said he wants social media sites to enforce a cut-off for youngsters on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and the like.

Clearly the minister has not thought through the potential educational impact of such a move. ®