Touchscreen generation of children ‘struggle to hold a pencil properly’

CHILDREN are struggling to use pencils because the excessive use of touchscreen phones is damaging their dexterity, specialists have claimed.

Paediatric doctors, handwriting experts and orthopaedic therapists are warning that although youngsters can swipe a screen, they no longer have the hand strength and agility to learn to write correctly when they start school.

Increasingly the use of digital screens is replacing traditional skills such as drawing, painting and cutting out which boost fine motor skills and co-ordination.

“Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not able to hold it because they don’t have the fundamental movement skills,” Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust, told The Guardian.

“To be able to grip and move a pencil, you need strong control of the fine muscles in your fingers. Children need lots of opportunity to develop those skills.”

A recent study found that 58 per cent of under-twos had used a tablet or mobile phone and many nurseries have installed interactive “smartboards”, digital cameras and touchscreen computers to try to expose children to gadgets at an early age.

One of the learning goals in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is that “children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and school”.

However the National Handwriting Association (NHA) warned that excessive use of technology is impeding writing skills.

Without activities such as manipulating playdough, holding scissors and scribbling with pencils, muscles in the shoulder, elbow and wrist needed for writing do not develop.

Teachers have reported that some children do not even know how to receive a pencil or paintbrush, because they no longer have the dexterity to grasp the objects. “The risk is that we make too many assumptions about why a child isn’t able to write at the expected age and don’t intervene when there is a technology-related cause,” said Mellissa Prunty, a paediatric occupational therapist and vice-chair of the NHA.

In 2014, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers warned that rising numbers of children were unable to perform simple tasks such as building blocks because of overexposure to ipads.

♦ Children as young as 11 are so addicted to social media that they log on after midnight every night, research has found.

MPS and leading charities warned that almost two thirds of young people had fallen victim to cyber bullying but admitted they would not tell their parents if they experienced something upsetting online. Their report accused social media platforms of failing to effectively tackle cyber bullying and offering only a “tokenistic” response, placing children’s mental health at risk.