Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 14:43     Subject: Re:pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:Language development is extremely important. Cannot help but notice how many people pushing strollers are also on the phone. One of the first times I noticed this was years ago in the grocery store. A mom had her child in the buggy seat--probably about a year old. They were in the produce section. Instead of picking up an apple and telling her child what it is, she was chatting on the phone while loading her buggy. She was just carrying on a social conversation while the child just sat. Lost opportunity.

I can remember when my DD was a toddler, we had a Golden Book called "Ten Items or Less." Every time we went to the grocery, we would count the items to see if we could use the "ten items or less" register. Can't do this if you are on the phone.

Language deve;opment is key. It comes from conversation with parents and others. I do not think poor articulation comes from their peers.

That said, I was a first grade teacher. There have always been kids with articulation problems and those are not necessarily related to intelligence or language development. It usually is related to auditory issues of some kind. Kids who had lots of ear infections, etc. They may be more likely to be identified early these days. Many of the problems go away with maturity--not all need remediation.


Peers absolutely play into it. If a 3-4 year old doesn't have conversations with other children, they will fall massively behind. Humans evolved to be reared in large groups of children of varying ages. If groups of children aren't talking to each other as much, it impacts development. This is on the decline for lots of reasons - fewer children per household, less contact with extended families, adults and older children spending more time on screens, young children spending more time on screens, traditional spoken communication being replaced by text/email, etc.

Your child won't fail/succeed because you do/don't narrate a few grocery trips. It is the culmination of the long-term environment. 60 minutes a day of an iPad in a household full of people who spend the rest of the time talking to each other is far better than having no screen time and minimal conversation with a handful of only adults.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 13:53     Subject: Re:pandemic babies
Language development is extremely important. Cannot help but notice how many people pushing strollers are also on the phone. One of the first times I noticed this was years ago in the grocery store. A mom had her child in the buggy seat--probably about a year old. They were in the produce section. Instead of picking up an apple and telling her child what it is, she was chatting on the phone while loading her buggy. She was just carrying on a social conversation while the child just sat. Lost opportunity.

I can remember when my DD was a toddler, we had a Golden Book called "Ten Items or Less." Every time we went to the grocery, we would count the items to see if we could use the "ten items or less" register. Can't do this if you are on the phone.

Language deve;opment is key. It comes from conversation with parents and others. I do not think poor articulation comes from their peers.

That said, I was a first grade teacher. There have always been kids with articulation problems and those are not necessarily related to intelligence or language development. It usually is related to auditory issues of some kind. Kids who had lots of ear infections, etc. They may be more likely to be identified early these days. Many of the problems go away with maturity--not all need remediation.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 13:45     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:The 25-26 school year had the first round of COVID babies, and this didn’t seem to be an issue. If anything, our Kindergarten team reported that this year’s class was more talkative and social than they’d seen in recent memory.


"more talkative and social" is teacher code for regulation issues. These kids can't sit still, can't do circle time, can't listen for lessons without interruptions, etc, thanks to your kids ipad addiction.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 13:41     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Lots of speech problems, learned helpness and tantrums with this years group. Also hearing the word throughs them into a fit. Lots of issues w/super short attention spans.


I’m an FCPS SLP and every entering kindergarten class gets worse in terms of language developmental and attention. It’s not COVID; it’s the screen-based childhood. The children were constantly on screens and their parents were too. All kinds of missing parent/child interactions has resulted in children with language delays and the inability to sustain attention on tasks at school. Add in overly permissive millennial parenting (“gentle parenting”) and we now have classrooms fill of children who are not quite ready. They have never been given a consequence by their parents and there is no follow through at home with behavior. I agree with the learned helplessness for sure. There are also children who immediately say “I’m bored” as soon as they are made to sit at a table and learn something new. They are used to the constant entertainment and endless swipe and scroll.

Parents of children under 5: put away your screens.


Please don't make assumptions. My rising second grader never had screens - AT ALL - before age 3 and since age 3 has only had minimal TV (PBS kids). No tablets, ever. And he has needed a lot of speech support for articulation. The last thing we need is our SLP assuming this is because of poor parenting.


It's all related though, isn't it? If your child was in pre-school or play groups, they would be getting reinforcement of poor speech patterns from peers who DID overuse screens. There is less talking around young children because older children and adults use screens more than they did 20+ years ago. Young children learn from all the other humans around them. Parents have a huge impact on children but by no means the only impact.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 11:38     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Lots of speech problems, learned helpness and tantrums with this years group. Also hearing the word throughs them into a fit. Lots of issues w/super short attention spans.


I’m an FCPS SLP and every entering kindergarten class gets worse in terms of language developmental and attention. It’s not COVID; it’s the screen-based childhood. The children were constantly on screens and their parents were too. All kinds of missing parent/child interactions has resulted in children with language delays and the inability to sustain attention on tasks at school. Add in overly permissive millennial parenting (“gentle parenting”) and we now have classrooms fill of children who are not quite ready. They have never been given a consequence by their parents and there is no follow through at home with behavior. I agree with the learned helplessness for sure. There are also children who immediately say “I’m bored” as soon as they are made to sit at a table and learn something new. They are used to the constant entertainment and endless swipe and scroll.

Parents of children under 5: put away your screens.


Please don't make assumptions. My rising second grader never had screens - AT ALL - before age 3 and since age 3 has only had minimal TV (PBS kids). No tablets, ever. And he has needed a lot of speech support for articulation. The last thing we need is our SLP assuming this is because of poor parenting.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2026 11:35     Subject: pandemic babies
I think there are a lot of speech IEPs for the outgoing kinders and 1st graders. My first grader (now a rising 2nd grader) has a big cohort of kids who get speech support. I suspect it's because of masks when they were learning to speak. And no, he was never on screens as a baby/toddler. Not everything is poor parenting.
Anonymous
Post 06/18/2026 08:42     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is the gentle parenting epidemic. That will be make teachers' jobs so much harder those early elementary years.


Gentle parenting just means treating your kid like a person and having age-appropriate expectations of them, instead of screaming and swatting them when things aren't going well. It does not mean a lack of rules or consequences.

Possibly the term you're looking for is permissive parenting, or neglectful parenting.


Gentle parenting is fine when parents actually understand what is age-appropriate. However, when parents say nonsense such as, " He's only 8; he's too young to expect him to sit at a table while we have dinner, " "She's only 9; it's normal for her to scream in the faces of adults," "He's only 10; it isn't appropriate to assign chores," "She's only 11; she doesn't need to think yet about the needs of the people around her," it is very problematic.

Permissive parenting are neglectful parenting are what most parents who call their style "gentle" are actually doing. Kids thrive when there are expectations, guidelines, and consequences. They also need parents who are active in their day-to-day lives.

We have an epidemic, however, of parents who provide the basics ( food, shelter, clothing) but think they are providing "love" by showering their kids with expensive gifts instead of providing love, guidance, and actual parenting.

We have an epidemic of parents who spend more time on their phones and computers than they do with their kids.

We have an epidemic of parents who give their nine to fifteen-year-old children " dirtbikes" that are actually motorcycles and/or electric scooters that can travel at high speeds. Those kids then wreak havoc in neighborhoods and shopping centers, but the parents are unaware because they pay no attention or they dont want to confront their kids.

We have an epidemic of parents who are so hands-off that they expect schools to teach their kids everything, including lessons that are prents' responsibility, not schools' responsibility.

We have an epidemic of parents who are so overprotective that they will not allow their children to experience the slightest bit of discomfort or challenge, which means the kids don't grow or learn.

We have an epidemic of parents who are raising entitled, rude, emotionally-stunted children.


(Before anyone comes at me about being on my phone to type this instead of spending time with my kids for their first day of summer break, my kids left early this morning with their grandparents to have a long weekend vacation with them, so they aren't here.)


Sure ... so just say permissive parenting next time.

A lot of these kids suffering from permissive parenting would benefit from gentle parenting - i.e., boundaries, consequences, and direct attention from parents who have thought about what's really age appropriate - so further muddying the waters by misusing the term is counterproductive.

Anonymous
Post 06/18/2026 08:14     Subject: pandemic babies
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is the gentle parenting epidemic. That will be make teachers' jobs so much harder those early elementary years.


Gentle parenting just means treating your kid like a person and having age-appropriate expectations of them, instead of screaming and swatting them when things aren't going well. It does not mean a lack of rules or consequences.

Possibly the term you're looking for is permissive parenting, or neglectful parenting.


Gentle parenting is fine when parents actually understand what is age-appropriate. However, when parents say nonsense such as, " He's only 8; he's too young to expect him to sit at a table while we have dinner, " "She's only 9; it's normal for her to scream in the faces of adults," "He's only 10; it isn't appropriate to assign chores," "She's only 11; she doesn't need to think yet about the needs of the people around her," it is very problematic.

Permissive parenting are neglectful parenting are what most parents who call their style "gentle" are actually doing. Kids thrive when there are expectations, guidelines, and consequences. They also need parents who are active in their day-to-day lives.

We have an epidemic, however, of parents who provide the basics ( food, shelter, clothing) but think they are providing "love" by showering their kids with expensive gifts instead of providing love, guidance, and actual parenting.

We have an epidemic of parents who spend more time on their phones and computers than they do with their kids.

We have an epidemic of parents who give their nine to fifteen-year-old children " dirtbikes" that are actually motorcycles and/or electric scooters that can travel at high speeds. Those kids then wreak havoc in neighborhoods and shopping centers, but the parents are unaware because they pay no attention or they dont want to confront their kids.

We have an epidemic of parents who are so hands-off that they expect schools to teach their kids everything, including lessons that are prents' responsibility, not schools' responsibility.

We have an epidemic of parents who are so overprotective that they will not allow their children to experience the slightest bit of discomfort or challenge, which means the kids don't grow or learn.

We have an epidemic of parents who are raising entitled, rude, emotionally-stunted children.


(Before anyone comes at me about being on my phone to type this instead of spending time with my kids for their first day of summer break, my kids left early this morning with their grandparents to have a long weekend vacation with them, so they aren't here.)