Some children in England and Wales are starting school unable to climb stairs, not toilet trained
‘Covid baby’ explanation starting to feel like an excuse, say some teachers, as quarter of children begin reception in nappies
The pandemic has been blamed for a decline in school readiness among reception-aged children, but some teachers who took part in the annual poll said the “Covid baby” explanation was starting to feel like an excuse.
Ive worked with babies before, during, and after covid. None of that ever impacted things such as climbing up stairs or wearing nappies. There is even less excuse for school aged children to have such a problem. This is 100% to blame on the families.
I think a lot of it is tablets. They just shouldn't be around kids at all. I have no reason to think it other than my own little model of the world, but I feel like kids are designed to wander around and do stuff, and the tablet short-circuits so much of that type of drive that it would be weird if it didn't stunt the kid's development in serious ways. And there are definitely parents who use the tablet as a "make kid happy and stop needing attention from me" button which is absolutely just too tempting a thing to be safe to put in the home.
Something in the world changed to make this stuff happen, and watching toddlers interact with tablets is so terrifying to me that I tend to assume that anything wrong with their development is definitely a result of it, with no particular evidence.
For me that’s still the families fault.
Tablets on their own are fine, I use them with the children, we even watched some lunar new year celebrations yesterday. And we use them to play music all the time.
Parents often use tablets as an excuse to not parent. Kid fussy? Give them the iPad etc.
Tablets are something to be used in moderation and with intent. It’s up to adults to ensure that.
