Kirstie Allsopp revealed a surprising parenting technique during Monday's Jeremy Vine show – admitting that she smashed her children's iPads after they spent too long playing on them. She told the presenter: "This is the first time I've said this publicly. In June I smashed my kids' iPads, not in a violent way. I actually banged them on the table leg. There is a game called Fortnite and another called PUBG and I decided... we had made all sorts of rules and all sorts of times when we said you can't play them and all those rules got broken and in the end I said: 'Right that is it, I have to physically [break them]'."
Kirsty with her two sons - she also has two older stepsons
She then added: "I didn't intend to speak about it but it's come up now." When fellow guest Hardeep Singh Koli asked if her children knew about it, she said: "They saw me do it." Her comments came during a discussion titled: 'Parents to blame for kids' behaviour?'
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Kirstie's admission sparked plenty of debate on Twitter, with some praising her for her robust decision – but others questioned why she didn't give the iPads to charity instead. But after defending herself on the social media site on Monday, it seems that Kirstie has since disabled her Twitter account.
On Monday morning, she tweeted: "If you found your kids with a packet of cigarettes would you say 'I won't destroy these because they are worth a tenner but please don't smoke?' No of course you wouldn't."
One Twitter user commented: "Meanwhile, there's children in the world who go without such things (and would appreciate them) as parents can't afford them. Would donating them to a charity to benefit such people not have been a more grown up and mature course of action @KirstieMAllsopp?"
READ MORE: Kirstie Allsopp opens up about her health and fitness regime
She replied: "The second hand value of the iPads is about £70 each, if I feel a lesson was learned about following through then it's worth far, far more to our family than £140. This is about the value of trust, and the value of people over things."
