Nurturing speech development in children
The Bible declares, The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Yes, God’s Word stirs our hearts in worship, but it is so wise, too! Knowledge tells us what is, wisdom tells us what it means. We are tempted to think our own lives and our own century so special. Events are declared ‘unique’, ‘historic’, yet we know – from the Bible – that what we observe is in no real sense unique – and there is no new thing under the sun.
It makes the reading of ‘old’ CViE Newletters very helpful, because in those words written two decades ago we see events of today, just in slightly different shades or forms.
You have likely read that children’s progress in schools in many key subjects has been curbed by the months of lockdown, especially for the younger ones in their speech development. Humans were made for interaction not isolation. In December 2003 the CViE Newsletter published an article titled ‘Speaking Difficulties’, which warned of the effect on child development by over-exposure to television.
In this we glean a warning of under-exposure to helpful stimulation and over-exposure to unhelpful stimulation in the lives of children, and it reminds parents of the urgent need to be vigilant in overseeing the maturing of the dynamic and constantly developing person in their care.
We reproduce the December 2003 article, a helpful reminder, we trust, in a busy and distracted age:
“It is a great concern to loving parents when the speech of a young child does not develop as it should and special therapy is necessary. But not all speech problems in a schoolchild are the result of some natural impediment from birth.
Recent research has found that speaking difficulties amongst many young children is a result of watching too much television.
Dr Rosemary Sage of the University of Leicester’s School of Education has stated in recent research that the ability of children to speak properly has worsened over the past twenty years. She puts this down to children watching too much television. “Families used to gather together in the evening and recount what they had done through the day. The trend today is for children to sit in front of a television screen processing picture information visually. This does not engage them in thinking or speaking”. Often children have televisions in their own rooms and watch programmes, or play computers games, for many hours each day rather than having a conversation with the family. She states that this is not because parents are less caring but they often have less time to spend with their children. A parent support charity spokeswoman has said that demands on parents are ever increasing and that single parents are encouraged by the government to go to work. “If you’re working very hard and you’re tired, and your child is tired and fractious, it’s not surprising that you stick them in front of the TV while you prepare supper.”
The recently appointed Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge, has stated in an interview to the press that she sees her role as a battle to persuade parents to take their responsibilities seriously. She believes the State has a role to play in supporting good parents and censoring bad ones. Yet, in the same interview, she states categorically that the government should have no role in promoting “family values” by supporting the institute of marriage and, in her view, schools should be discouraged from promoting the idea of two parent families!
This confused statement is very pertinent to the problem. The promotion of humanism, which rejects the family unit and the truth of Holy Scripture, has a detrimental effect on the bringing up and well-being of children. It does not need university-based research to reveal this.
Not only is the effect of wilful single parenthood and broken homes being seen in children not being able to speak properly, but the evidence of many teachers is that children start school unable to dress themselves, handle a knife and fork, follow simple instructions, or even sit still.
One can only have prayerful sympathy for such children but far less sympathy for the Minister for Children who, being born of Jewish parents, would be aware of the Old Testament scriptures. Unless there is a keeping to Biblical principles in life and the bringing up of children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord then the situation can only worsen and schools (and Government) faced with ever increasing problems.”
