An annual survey conducted by early years charity Kindred Squared asked primary school teachers a series of questions about kids’ development. The responses they received were shocking. Nearly a third of children start school unable to read, with many reportedly trying to swipe books like a screen, and 28 per cent cannot eat or drink independently. Additionally, 26 per cent of reception pupils have frequent accidents.
Stunted Development
Education experts have been sounding the alarm about this issue for years. However, the main culprit has shifted over the last decade. Previously, poor hygiene facilities were described as a potential ‘deterrent’ to students using public toilets, while overstretched nurseries and a lack of access to affordable childcare contributed to poor communication skills amongst young children. Now, the finger is being pointed elsewhere. Over half of the teachers surveyed by Kindred Squared blamed excessive phone or tablet usage as a driving factor behind kids’ lack of preparedness for school.
A recently published report appears to confirm their theory. Drawing on dozens of studies from across the globe, the 1001 Critical Days Foundation has found that screen time can damage children’s ‘motor skills, communication and personal-social functioning.’ Therefore, the group recommends that those under the age of two should have no screen time at all. Higher screen time at the age of one was associated with delays in communication and problem solving at ages two to four. Furthermore, researchers predict that children who have more than 1.5 hours of daily screen time at the age of two will display lower-than-average linguistic and educational performance and higher levels of peer relationship problems when they are four and a half.
Screen exposure between the ages of one and three interferes with children’s ability to interact with their peers and, crucially, their parents. Babies learn language by listening to sound patterns and trying to emulate them. But if the adults are glued to their screens and not interacting with their children, then the opportunity for quality parent-child talk diminishes. Evidence shows that the presence of a TV or tablet in the home decreases a toddler’s exposure to a language-rich environment, resulting in less vocalisation, narrower vocabulary and fewer conversational turns.
As this study suggests, children’s educational prospects are not only being hindered, leaving them unprepared to enter reception, but their social skills are in jeopardy too. Shelton Junior School in Derby recently made headlines for adding ‘conversation lessons’ to their school’s syllabus after staff noticed that pupils were finding it increasingly difficult to chat to each other. Teachers introduced these coaching circles so that students could practice holding a conversation, maintaining eye contact and debating. Meanwhile, some parents are going to great lengths to ensure that their children are adequately equipped in presentational skills and table manners, leading to a boom in demand for ‘etiquette classes.’ Both of these initiatives have been introduced to combat the negative effects of smartphone usage, which have left youngsters unable to engage in small talk.
Practical Pacifier
By the age of two, 40 per cent of children have their own tablet. But it was their parents who put this device in their hands. Why? Ultimately, it comes down to convenience. We’ve all seen instances where a toddler begins crying or screaming in public, and the parent’s first reaction is to shove a smartphone in their face so they can play Subway Surf or watch Cocomelon. You cannot help but sympathise with the adult in this scenario who has likely weathered countless such outbursts and found this strategy to be the most effective and efficient pacifier. When parents are tired and run off their feet, occasionally calling on the powers of Peppa Pig is not a cardinal sin.
But with one in ten babies falling asleep to a screen, the price to pay for a few hours of peace is potentially dear. Whipping out a phone or tablet might be a pragmatic short-term solution to tempering a child’s bad mood, but if this becomes habitual or the default response, the difficulties further down the line may outweigh the immediate advantages of this strategy. When parents use smartphones to pacify their children, they are essentially replacing verbal and physical support with an impersonal screen that teaches children to rely on devices to relax and regulate their moods.
Similarly, a 2025 study found that children whose mothers frequently watch TV or use their phones exhibit ‘greater negative affectivity’ and are more likely to have higher screen time themselves because of the tendency to copy their role models. Parents who are addicted to their screens are therefore not only negatively impacting their own lives but simultaneously compromising their child’s development. This is a particularly miserable thought when you consider that over a third of phone use takes place with zero purpose anyway.
Perhaps nobody sums this sentiment up better than the Princess of Wales, in an essay that she co-authored with psychiatrist Robert Waldinger for the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she founded in 2021. The pair warn how, amidst an ‘epidemic of disconnection,’ ‘technological interference’ within the family dynamic leaves us ‘unable to fully engage with the people right in front of us.’
Who’s to Blame for Technoference?
For some, putting down our screens in the presence of family is a no-brainer. However, Dame Andrea Leadsom, founder of 1001 Critical Days, is keen not to lay the blame for technoference on parents. In a recent press release, she emphasised that many ‘may not be aware of the extent of the possible harm being done to their baby’ and highlighted that 85 per cent of mothers have never received advice on screen time.
‘Screens are now part of everyday life and many families are navigating this challenge without the information and support they need. The responsibility cannot rest solely on their shoulders,’ argues Leadsom.
She has since been calling on governments globally to increase education around what constitutes an acceptable level of infant screen-time for new parents — if there is such a thing. The evidence so far is too persuasive to ignore. Smartphones, tablets and TV are impeding many toddlers’ development. It is time that families were made aware of this fact and guided accordingly.
DISCLAIMER: The articles on our website are not endorsed by, or the opinions of Shout Out UK (SOUK), but exclusively the views of the author.
