It's good to talk

Parents have been urged to find more time to talk to their children.

A poll has found that half the population of the UK spends more than two hours a day watching TV, but less than a third spend two hours talking with our children.

The poll, for children’s communication charity I CAN, found that on an average day 46% of the population spends more than four hours at work, 50% spends more than two hours watching TV, 36 % (mainly women) spend more than two hours on household chores, and just 32% chat with our children for two hours or more.

There are big regional differences in the amount of time we give to talking to children. In Wales, 49% say they do it for two hours a day compared to 24% in London and the South East.

The charity says that more than half of children in some areas of the UK are starting primary school without the basic speech, language and communication skills they need to learn and make friends.

The charity has launched a DVD for families and childcarers on how to develop young children’s communication skills with nursery rhymes, songs, stoeies and “happy chatter”. Chatter Matters, supported by BT Openreach, is available from ICAN. Families pay postage only, and organisations can buy if for £3 a copy.