With substantial claims made by a number education professionals that technology can prove beneficial to a child’s learning, new research from the advice and information service for head teachers, The Key, has declared that parents’ continued use of smart phones is increasingly affecting young children’s social skills; making them unprepared for the commencement of primary school.

The 1,100 senior primary school staff surveyed suggested that ‘at least’ 194,000 children could potentially struggle by the time of enrolment this coming September, and the chief executive of The Key, Fergal Roche, said that, in conjunction with the current struggle to ‘retain staff and manage their teachers’ workload’, the worrying issue of unprepared children will play a significant role.

Read more on the research here