This article is from 2003 - I wonder what the situation is nowadays?
Are kids really as dumb as we think?
Modern toddlers brought up in front of the box have poorer speech skills, right? Wrong, says Karen Gold
THINGS are getting worse. It is a cosy, familiar idea, and when applied to young children's speech and language it offers ample opportunity for bemoaning the pernicious effect of television, dummies and single parenthood. There is only thing wrong with it. It's not true.
There is absolutely no evidence that the speech and language of children entering nursery and reception classes has declined in the past five years.
In fact, The TES has uncovered a small amount of evidence suggesting that pre-school speech and language is actually improving. So why do heads, teachers, politicians and newspapers all believe the opposite?