Climbing Problems

Kids in the UK can't climb:

a survey from research group Savanta, for early years charity Kindred, has found that nearly half of the teachers in Wales and England in the poll reported a further decline in school readiness in the last year. As well as around one in four children reportedly not potty trained when they started school last September some also arrived with poor basic motor skills and underdeveloped muscles – thought to be the result of excessive screen use. Clumsiness, delayed walking, and pupils using Americanisms picked up from being online were also reported among school starters. Teachers agreed that lockdown restrictions had been a factor but one senior teacher told the survey: “There’s only so long you can blame Covid for that. I’m sorry but a lot of it comes down to parenting as well." Less than half (44%) of the 1,000 parents of reception-aged children who replied to a parallel survey said they thought children should know how to use books correctly, turning the pages rather than swiping or tapping as if using an electronic device, when they started school. But most, three in four, agreed that toilet training was something a child should have achieved before reception. Parents appeared to be over-confident though with nine in 10 judging their child ready for school against one in three teachers who said not. But both groups agreed that lack of access to health visitors was a factor.

Blame it on the screens...