MODERN LIFE TURNING GENERATION OF CHILDREN INTO SAD LONERS: U.K. STUDY
BEHAVIOUR / Survey finds children are losing the ability to play and make friends easily
Writer: GRAEME PATON
LONDON — Britain”s children are struggling to make friends at school because they spend too much time playing computer games and listening to MP3 players, according to teachers.
An increase in “solitary pass-times” has damaged children”s social skills and fuelled feelings of loneliness among a generation of young people, they say.
The findings are revealed, in a survey of primary teachers by Save The Children.
The conclusions come amid growing concerns that the toxic mix of modern life, including exposure to electronic entertainment, junk food and over competitive schooling, is poisoning childhood.
More than 70 percent of teachers said that increased use of games consoles, cell phones, the internet and MP3 players has harmed children”s ability to interact with their peers.
A third said that, since they started teaching, they had seen an increase in the number of pupils who struggle to make friends and more children who stand alone in the playground or classroom.
Save The Children said that the decline in children”s ability to play and make friends in their early years would make it harder for adults to form long-term relationships and interact with colleagues at work.
According to the charity, a rise in solitary activities has coincided with a decline in traditional playground pastimes, such as games of hopscotch, tag and football.
A report by Daily Telegraph