British children will be sent through the school gates with billions of pounds worth of gadgets in their backpacks, despite parents fearing new technology is damaging their social skills.
Across Britain parents are spending on average STG270 ($A594) on items such as smartphones and tablets for school bags, more than twice the amount on the previous year as more children rely on them for homework.
But despite forking out on new technology, nearly half of parents believe it is having a negative impact on their children's ability to make friends, as well as fears over attention spans, handwriting skills and a reliance on spell check.
In total, children will return to school with tech items worth STG3.2 billion in their school bags, according to the research by British independent price comparison website uSwitch.com
The rise of expensive items being brought to school has also led to kids being bullied or robbed, with one in 10 parents saying their children have been bullied over technology and 13 per cent have had gadgets lost or stolen.
Peter Bradley, director of services at anti-bullying charity Kidscape, warned parents to "carefully consider" what gadgets their children are taking to school.
"With the start of the new academic year just around the corner, parents should carefully consider what gadgets their child is taking to school. Some children may be bullied because of the gadgets they either carry or do not even possess."
Bradley said Kidscape had recently encountered multiple incidents related to gadgets, including the case of a primary school girl who was bullied by her friends for a whole term because her mobile phone was a basic model.
Bradley called on schools to do more to follow anti-bullying procedures when implementing new technology learning.
However, the research also shows half of parents believe tablets and smartphones are giving their children an advantage in the classroom because they can access educational apps as schools implement more tech-based subjects such as computer coding.
Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, said more and more children are using new technology to learn.
"Another boon is the price. An entry-level tablet can cost under STG100 - making tablet technology accessible even for households on tight budgets."
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