Not All Socialization Is Good for Kids

If a third of children are starting school unable to use a book, parents are right to be choosy about who their kids spend all day with.

A Sky News report made the rounds recently with a detail that should genuinely stop parents in their tracks: nearly a third of kids starting school don’t know how to use a physical book. Some of them try to swipe the pages like an iPad. Teachers also say close to 30 percent of kids can’t eat or drink independently, and about a quarter aren’t toilet-trained when they show up on day one.

This isn’t a quirky “kids these days” anecdote. It’s a flashing warning sign about the environments young children are growing up in — and about how much we’re pretending that environment doesn’t matter once they’re all dropped into the same classroom.