Reading this made me sad, but for a different reason than I'd anticipated when I first started reading. The trigger for me was the realization that our children are not having the conversations that they ought to be having.

Talking with/to children is important for their mental development, or so I have been told. I am no expert on this matter, but this is what I have come to understand. It's rooted on the understanding that social expertise is developed by means of continual practice; if kids do not play/socialize/work together at a young age, they risk not sufficiently developing this skill as they grow.

If we are seeing anti-social behavior from children these days it would seem that trends in contemporary society have caused a decline in the opportunities kids have for conversing with others. The lacking development of our auditory sensory skills means a lacking development in the other sensory categories - speaking and hearing are the categories we master first as humans.

I don't believe the cause of this is limited to the apparent advances in the stupidity of early childhood educators, as it is likely that the on-demand exposure to engaging media content at younger ages and other related trends are also to blame. After all, if a kid is staring at a screen, they are not developing their social functions, either.

In general, I believe this damage can be sourced back to the general trends of the modern household, which has both parents working full-time just to get by economically. The humans with which the child is most willing to converse are not available and instead the child is left in a scenario that more resembles Lord of the Flies.

This is all why I, personally, do not plan to bring children into this world until I can afford the time to raise them with the love and attention they deserve. So that the availability of finances has no bearing on their future. I owe any being I bring into this earth at least that courtesy.