To think there needs to be a public inquiry into child development

[MaryMaryVeryContrary]

It really seems like we have a looming societal crisis in terms of child development and therefore the quality of the public in 10-20 years time. Experienced teachers across the board seem to be reporting an overwhelming increase in delayed, aggressive and disruptive children. I’m extremely worried about how this will impact society when they become adults - it seems (as a guess) at least a tenth of children will be incapable of work of any kind, and many more will need copious amounts of support to live any kind of responsible life.

AIBU to think we need an urgent public inquiry into this and what is going on? It seems to be the elephant in the room and anybody who tries to discuss it is shouted down.

I’m sure some of it is due to cuts in services but surely that can’t account for it all - it’s very sudden and extremely alarming.

Its easy to blame the parents but so many are ground down by the relentless trying to balance the budget, both working full time, rushing to drop off and pick up, in many cases being expected to log on again later in the evening or doing a side hustle to make ends meet. A more passive style of parenting is easier when you are exhausted. Far easier to give in to the screen to keep them quiet in the evening or at the weekend so you can batch cook/clean/wash/iron etc.

Then there's the impact of COVID and parents trying to wfh and home school at the same time - again best way to keep them quiet whilst you had your phone call was to give them a screen. Even if you took them to the park you might need to juggle that with a work call and so the pattern of being on the phone/screen gets set. I imagine many mothers in particular are still exhausted from that circus. All this without even starting on the impact that lockdown had on children and young people - many children in early years at school missed out on early age interaction with their peers as there were no baby and toddler groups running. That affects more than just speech and language development which we already know has been adversely impacted by lockdown.

I am horrified by your last sentences. People do not CHOOSE to have mental health problems or ASD! And many people with such problems do work; and, if developed and used properly, AI may actually make life more 'user-friendly' for such people; and make it possible for more of them to work.

People who are 'different' in any way have always been treated by too many as 'disposable'; and the life expectancy for people with mental health problems or ASD is significantly lower than for the general population. It would become even lower if they were treated even more harshly and as more 'disposable' than now. But maybe that's what you want, with your comment on 'cleansing' the population.

Completely agree, OP. I think it's a combination of things, including lockdown, but I suspect screens are a major factor. The number of adults who are functionally addicted to their phones is horrifying. As a result children are ignored and miss out on the kinds of interaction that are vital for development (such as F2F time) as well as missing out on seeing interactions between other people (because we interact on screens, there's nothing to see).

Round us the council has started a poster campaign telling people it's good for babies to be cuddled and talked to. A good message but horrifying that it needs to be said.

I think a good place to start would be a survey of just how many children are behind, or have aggressive tendencies. Once we have numbers we can then break it down and try to investigate. But there is no official data into (for example), how many children are non verbal at 4.

I grew up in a large faith community, big families, lots of kids in and out of each others houses (90s). I can’t remember any children who were non verbal at 4, and I’m not a ‘good old days’ type.

Now I can think of 5, off the top of my head, and I obviously know less children now!

Again anecdotal but if you search this website for threads regarding non verbal children, 90% of them were created in the last 5 years or so.

What the fuck is this post

Ignore it, I am. Not in the spirit of my thread and I won’t bother replying

I agree OP, there does need to be some form of enquiry, and the future does look scary.

Whilst it is great that mental health is recognised (I have mh problems too), we can not possibly cater for every individual problem these children have now into adulthood and some personal responsibility/resilience has to come from somewhere. Of course, there will be individuals who will always need extra support, but we currently have a generation of kids who have the idea that they rule the roost because everyone is running around pandering to every whim. Add in technology to keep them quiet, parents on their phones, teachers with little authority anymore... it's a shit storm waiting to happen.

The workplace can not possibly cater to all these needs this generation will be bringing with them, and the state is certainly in no position to fund a generation of kids with so many issues.

ASD and MH problems are not a choice
Are you goady or just ignorant?

i agree and perhaps loss of family networks

i think you 1 in 10 guesstimate is wrong..... its much higher.
parenting? children not out playing? screens? something in the water? surestarts going/limited funding has set early years back. ive my fingers crossed for a labour government and i dont even live in england (wider uk that still has limited surestart)

I think the point about what happens to children who have poor parenting is a very interesting one. You’re quite right, children whose parents weren’t around much or didn’t give a shit would be outside, with other children, running about. I do think that’s less damaging than being unsupervised on screens for hours on end.

There are loads of studies and research into early years. Nothing is done about it. An enquiry will be just a time wasting hand wringing exercise.I agree a lot of it is due to screens. The constant short term stimulation leads to lack of concentration, hours can go past without them interacting with another person. And that's adults ( including me) and children. Also poor nutrition. Kids who are simultaneously obese and malnourished because their food is crisp. It's so difficult to buy and cook healthy food when we are all so time poor. When you get to the basic level, some parents need to be taught how to potty train interact with their children and give them boundaries. Thst requires money and funding for outside agencies like childrens centres health visitors and social care. That is not forthcoming.

It won't be a popular view but I do wonder whether parents just don't get the opportunity to practice parenting, or the chance to get to know their children.
So many babies are in full time nursery, and then progress to primary school with breakfast clubs and after-school clubs, and holiday clubs in between, the parents barely get a chance to see their kids, let alone really hone the art of parenting and get to know their children.
I'm in my mid-50s - I knew no-one who went to nursery when I was a kid. Breakfast clubs and holiday clubs didn't exist.

There’s also no punishment. Teens aren’t locked up for very serious crimes instead they get a bit of community service and I can’t imagine how that is enforced.
We need places to send very disruptive kids to try to sort them out and to hopefully get them motivated. But there’s nowhere.

The majority of children from impoverished backgrounds don’t attend nursery, and the poverty seems to correlate with the issues. So I don’t doubt full time nursery at 1 is suboptimal (and I’m doing it myself), but I don’t think it’s a major player here.

"I grew up in a large faith community, big families, lots of kids in and out of each others houses (90s). I can’t remember any children who were non verbal at 4, and I’m not a ‘good old days’ type."

People like my non verbal 17 year old have always existed.

I was going by DD’s class. Normal state primary in an average area. 25 kids so quite a small class. 3 children with high needs. One is completely non verbal and has no understanding at all. One has anger problems, kicks/punches kids on a daily basis and trashes the classroom plus learning difficulty (he is verbal though). The other DD’s friend, lovely boy with autism who is verbal and I imagine will live semi independently but will need support I imagine for all his adult life.

Apparently that’s quite a low SEN intake as well.

Of course, but in such high numbers as now?

It's a mix of over stretched support services and parents, draconian school rules and some shit parenting (which was always there).
I was just watching an awful family in the local playground who claim their daughter needs support. The adults have their stupid dog in a no dog playground and are standing around smoking, near the no smoking signs. That child doesn't have a chance.

I think the expectation of having 2 full-time working parents makes life more challenging as there is less time for everything. Less time for getting everything done and less time together as a family. I think screens are pretty toxic for everyone and we are all addicted to the dopamine hit we get and so it's not a surprise when our children mimic us. I think that the vast majority of parents are doing their best. However,I also think that as a society we try to opt out of personal responsibility thinking that schools, NHS, government can fix everything.

See to be honest I don’t see if, I went to school from primary 1996 and secondary 2002
the behaviour in both was chaos at times 😂 especially secondary schools but what I do think has changed is our expectations.
secondary schools literally having apps / online systems that update negative points as the day is happening for EVERYTHING.

my friend got one the other day which was listed as “ serious incident and marked as highest level “
the incident was he for in trouble for not having a piece of equipment - got upset and then removed from class - got more upset so refused to go in to another room
the serious incident was him refusing to go in to a different room and not the sit in the corridor.
he was suspended for 2 days.
I am not saying it was an incident but back when I was at school, you would of just been dealt with the head teacher and your parents wouldn’t even know about something like that 😂
a serious incident would be violence / threatening / hurting someone / stealing / setting the toilets on fire.

children have emotions, children make mistakes they should be punishments but I think I do think our expectation in education have changed and it’s not suitable for a lot of them anymore.

"Of course, but in such high numbers as now?"

Non verbal as teenagers? I think it would be the same number. They are just more visible ( not locked away) now.

Have a look at the book ‘Toxic Childhood’ by Sue Palmer. It’s quite an old book now but highlights a lot of ways in which modern life can affect children.

1 in 10 not being able to work sounds really extreme? My DD on the waiting list for an ASD assesment, but I have no doubt that she will be able to work when she grows up.

My cousin who has ASD, who was not able to go to a mainstream school, is now living independently and has a job.

I think it's a wider problem with behaviour and not something to blame on people with ASD. In fact my DD is impeccably behaved at school.