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Quiet kids

Posted by Gillian Thomas at 5:05pm on Friday, 7th March 2003

According to this article in the Guardian (click here to read), children are not learning to talk as early as they used to. The usual culprits of 'too much television' and 'too busy parents' are blamed.

But how much is this really the case? Might other factors, such as smaller family size, or more transient carer relationships also play a part? And is it really true that children are talking later. Might it also be that expectations of their performance in schools is higher, or even that adult's ability to hear children is diminishing?

Comments

1
Smaller family sizes should mean more of the children in the schools are only-children, who tend to talk earlier IIRC. Also, while it may be that children in more isolation might talk later, today's children actually get /more/ socializing practice than our grandparents day -- today's kids get daycare, television (teletubbies is founded on this principle of children learning from peers) trips to the mall ... our grandparents and their grandparents were largely left to their own devices, so long as they were not getting into trouble. but maybe that's it: this is unscientific observation coming from a trained but reformed developmental psychologist ;) but I'd be looking at the way parents today /dote/ over their children, fullfilling desires at the least whine or whimper; I've seen so many round babies being stuffed with more food ... it's no wonder they don't learn to talk: They never need to ask for anything. Contrast /this/ to grandma's early years where, at the long table, if you didn't get heard above your siblings, you didn't get passed the peas!
Posted by mrG mrG  at 9:04pm on Friday, 7th March 2003

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