A former president of the UK’s Association of Teachers and Lecturers has raised concerns over an increase of aggressive behaviour in young children, claiming that parents are ignoring age-restrictions on games.
In a speech to the union's annual conference on Wednesday, Alison Sherratt cited “horrific” games as the cause of an increase of behaviours such as "hitting, hurting and thumping” within young students. However, instead of blaming the game content itself, it seems that Sherratt is more concerned that parents aren’t paying attention to what their children are exposed to.
"I began to reflect on what children have been playing over the last few years and realised we have noticed a marked increase in the aggression in general,” Sherratt said. "We all expect to see rough and tumble but I have seen little ones acting out quite graphic scenes in the playground and there is a lot more hitting, hurting, thumping etc in the classroom for no particular reason."
A teacher at Riddlesden St Mary's Primary School, Sherratt suggested that the amount of time young children are spending playing video games is something that also needs to be addressed. "I would suggest that if children are taking part in this fairly solitary existence this will impact on their speaking and listening skills which, in turn, will impact on their ability to concentrate and learn in school.”
"Sadly, there is a noticeable correlation between the children who admit to playing games and those who come to school really tired."
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