One Third of British Children Struggle with Basic Life Skills During School Years: Daily Mail

One third of British children do not understand basic concepts such as books during their school years, attempting to swipe pages as if they were on a phone or tablet, reports The Sky News.

28% of children cannot feed or hydrate themselves independently, while 25% struggle with fundamental life skills. A new study in Great Britain has revealed a worrying trend: 26% of children starting primary school are unable to use the toilet on their own and need to wear diapers. A similar proportion of first graders are unable to feed themselves.

According to Daily Mail, a survey conducted among a thousand teachers has shown an increasing number of children lacking the essential skills required to start school. Teachers have reported that they spend an average of 1.5 hours a day teaching children how to use the toilet or changing diapers, equivalent to losing an entire school day each week. They state that these frequent interruptions have a serious impact on the educational process, with 70% of respondents indicating that it negatively affects the overall progress of the class.

A parallel survey among parents showed that 22% believe that teaching children to use the toilet is not mandatory before they start school. Teachers and assistants note that some parents shift this responsibility to the school while others attribute their child's inability to 'special needs' to relieve themselves of the responsibility of parenting.

Apart from hygiene skills, 28% of children cannot eat or drink independently, and roughly the same number do not know how to handle books properly, attempting to 'flip' them as if swiping a smartphone screen.

A spokesperson for the UK Department for Education, commenting on the report's findings, acknowledged the scale of the issue and assured that the government is taking steps to improve the situation. Similar problems have also emerged in Germany, where teachers report that children have forgotten how to perform basic tasks such as holding a pencil and going to the toilet independently.