The ubiquity of smartphone technology among today’s children has raised concerns over parents buying the wrong presents.

All smartphones have an Autocorrect Function, which corrects spelling mistakes to the most likely intended word. However, the technology is unpredictable, often correcting words to odd and/or daft alternatives (particularly on Android phones, when you’re trying to type up satirical news stories for your satirical mad sit).

This has over recent years proved to be a nightmare for some parents,  as many children now write their lists of Christmas presents on their phones instead of on old fashioned paper.

The Sceptical Poet spoke to some of last year’s victims.

Hannah from the Wirral said:

“I bought my son the latest Julio Englesias cd. Turned out he wanted Hulk Pyjamas. He actually turned slightly green and started smashing things. Well, tried to. He’s only got little fists. “

Catherine, an evangelical Christian from Stoke, said:

“I bought my daughter a Luke Skywalker figure. I wasn’t happy about it because it’s a heathen toy, but it was what she wanted. Turned out she’d written Jesus, and it had autocorrected to Jedi. I felt stupid twice.”

And John from Bradford told us:

“I bought my daughter nothing for Christmas. She wanted a notepad. I suppose if she already had one this wouldn’t have happened. It’s all quite existential really.”

It is thought that as smartphones get cheaper and more powerful the problem is only going to get worse.

Amazon have added two extra ‘Are You Sure?’ buttons that you have to press to order anything, and are asking customers if they have a list to ‘check it twice’.