Watching too much TV is stopping youngsters from talking

Parents who sit their children in front of the television for hours are being blamed for an alarming rise in the number of youngsters who cannot speak properly.

Adults should turn off the TV and talk more to their children to encourage verbal skills, according to a speech therapy charity.

Nursery teachers are faced with children who are struggling to develop their vocabulary, cannot speak clearly and have difficulty understanding instructions.

A poll by the charity I CAN,

which helps children with speech and language difficulties, showed that 96 per cent of nursery staff had at least one child with 'communication difficulties' in their care.

Of those, 92 per cent blamed the lack of conversation between adults and children.

More than three quarters of nursery staff said TV was a major factor, while 64 per cent cited the habit of some parents of talking on behalf of their children.

Ten per cent of those questioned said they had ten or more children in their classes who had difficulty talking. I CAN chief executive Gill Edelman said: 'Despite the large numbers of children affected, there is still a very low awareness of this.

'It is imperative that parents and nursery workers understand that both are critical in the development of the child.

'Early intervention is crucial so that we can ensure that children with speech and language difficulties have the same opportunities in life as other children.'

It has been claimed that some five-year- olds spend so much time in front of the TV that they cannot speak properly and communicate in grunts.

Last year, an NOP study carried out for the toy retailer Early Learning Centre found that a third of under-threes have a TV in their bedroom.

Four out of five children aged under six watch up to six hours a day.

Soon afterwards Ofsted's chief inspector of schools, David Bell, warned that the communication and behavioural skills of fiveyearolds are at an all-time low.

Child psychologists say there is nothing wrong with letting children watch a certain amount of TV, but warn that it should not be allowed to take over the parenting role.

Government guidelines say that children should be able to talk to others and initiate conversation by the age of five.

There was also a warning yesterday that young children could be damaged by the confrontational and sexual content of daytime television.

Children's broadcasters including Johnny Ball, Toni Arthur and Susan Stranks said that shows such as ITV's Trisha, on which adults argue and behave emotionally, could have a negative impact on development.

b.hale@dailymail.co.uk

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