Thousands Of Children Start School ‘Not Ready For The Classroom’, Parents’ Smartphone Habits To Blame

Many children are starting school at a disadvantage because they lack the social skills and resiliance to match their peers, a new report has revealed.
In a third of primary schools more than half of new pupils are below the expected level of school-readiness, according to the annual State of Education Report from The Key, an information and advice service for head teachers. Fergal Roche, chief executive of The Key, stated that lack of social skills, delayed speech and lack of resilience were the issues most commonly cited in the survey of more than 2,000 school leaders and governors across the country, with many commenting that parents’ use of smartphones was a contributing factor.

One school leader stated: “Four-year-olds know how to swipe a phone but haven’t a clue about conversations.”
Andrew Teale, headteacher at St Paul’s Church of England Primary School and a National Leader of Education, took part in the survey. He feels that schools could do more to help parents before their child’s first day.

“More needs to be done to help parents understand what ‘school ready’ means and what they can practically do to help,” he said.
“We live in a very different world from the one we grew up in, where screen time is increasingly replacing social interaction as a way of spending time.
“Resistance is futile on this one, so we have to find ways to use technology healthily to promote language development and interaction skills.
“We also need to help parents understand just how valuable and enhancing real-life interactions are. There is no substitute for story reading or playing a board game which requires discussion, but technology can still enhance these activities.”


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/children-not-school-ready_uk_57308969e4b0ade291a2342e?utm_hp_ref=uk

That's a terrible shame and one of the massive drawbacks of having this kind of technology.

I see it on days out, mums on their phones whilst their kids are shouting "Look at me!"
Instead of looking, or joining in, their updating their status to "Fun day with the kids!"

Ironic.

eddie wrote:That's a terrible shame and one of the massive drawbacks of having this kind of technology.

I see it on days out, mums on their phones whilst their kids are shouting "Look at me!"
Instead of looking, or joining in, their updating their status to "Fun day with the kids!"

Ironic.

that is a really good point,
much of the problem is caused by the social media tech addiction of the parents.

it is really sad actually, and not all that different than an alcoholic or other addict parent that
chooses the addiction over spendign quality time with thir kids.

That's exactly what it is; addiction and for alot of parents it's facebook or snapchat, Instagram....
But what is sad, is that the addiction is "look at me".

Have we become so vain or needy as a society, that we need to have the "like" from our "friends"?

And who has over 100 friends???