‘Printer panic’ is rife in British homes as stressed out parents rush to ensure their kids’ assignments and homework are finished and handed in on time.
New research has revealed more than half the nation’s families (56 per cent) admitted a sense of dread as they hit ‘print’ and keep their fingers crossed that the ink or paper does not run out.
The phenomenon emerged following a study carried out among 1,000 parents of children aged 11-18 by leading printer brand Epson.
Overall, four in five families (83 per cent) said they were frequently plagued by tech issues at home which leads to family arguments, with glitchy Wi-Fi topping the list (47 per cent).
Devices not being charged (39 per cent), forgotten passwords (34 per cent) and printers running out of ink (29 per cent) also made the list – as did laptops interrupting work with regular updates (22 per cent) and lost smart devices (17 per cent).
“Families already face an enormous amount of stress from busy daily routines, changing hormones and ever-growing amounts of homework. Add the anxiety of looming deadlines when trying to print an assignment and it’s no wonder printer panic can lead to family squabbles. It’s not the only tech issue that causes drama. Everyone is familiar with the pain of Wi-Fi suddenly not working or the sinking feeling of realising they can’t remember their email password. I’d advise parents to take a breath before they let tech issues cause arguments with their kids – sit down and talk to them and work out the problem together.”
Parenting expert Dr Amanda Gummer
One in four schools (25 per cent) now regularly set homework that needs to be printed, and one in five families (22 per cent) frequently have to print learning materials at home as schools are not providing them, adding to parents’ tech stress.
The top five tech dramas experienced by families:
- Glitchy Wi-Fi (47%)
- Devices not being charged (39%)
- Passwords being forgotten (34%)
- Running out of printer ink (29%)
- Laptop interrupting work with regular updates (22%)
“We understand the pressures that homework can place on students and their families. It’s understandable that it can lead to tension at home, particularly when technology issues come into play. Everyone’s familiar with the pain of forgetting a password or the Wi-Fi playing up, which can feel even worse when you’ve got to use your laptop for an assignment or print out learning materials.”
Owen Vloothuis, product manager for ReadyPrint at Epson Europe
He continues, “Unfortunately, we can’t help with forgotten passwords, but when it comes to ink running out at a crucial moment, we absolutely can. Our ReadyPrint Flex ink subscription service is designed to alleviate this common stress by ensuring that printer ink is always available, so students can focus on their studies safe in the knowledge that they will always have ink at critical moments. By removing one of the common technological barriers to completing homework, we hope to make family life a little easier and support students in their educational journey.”
Epson is urging parents to sign up to its ReadyPrint Flex subscription service to ease tech-related tensions at home, which is specifically designed to ensure that families will never run out of ink again.
