Children today have been weakened by playing with iPads all day and some cannot even hold a pencil, according to a leading head teacher.
Bob Drew said four-year-olds are arriving at his primary school with poor upper body strength because of a lack of physical activity.
Now his staff at Gearies Infant School in Redbridge, East London, have started running ‘boot camps’ for the children to help them build their arm muscles.
Weak: A leading headteacher has said children today have been weakened by playing with iPads all day and some cannot even grip a pencil properly due to a lack of strength (stock photo)
He said the problem has become noticeable in the last two years and too many parents are giving their children electronic devices to play with instead of letting them run around.
Some parents arrive at school at collection time with younger siblings in buggies playing with smart phones, he said.
While many families think they are helping their children by getting them to use educational apps, they may be unwittingly stunting their physical development, he warned.
He said: ‘They can’t hold a pencil, their pencil grip is so weak that their handwriting is dreadful.
‘We think that’s something to do with having too much access to … digital technology.
‘I never noticed that before. This is very recent, we have started to see it in the last two years.
‘[We’ve been thinking] why is their handwriting so spidery? When we actually look very carefully is because their pencil grip is dreadful.
Mr Drew, who has led the school for almost 20 years and has advised the government on education, said children did not appear to be as active in the internet age.
He said the problem was particularly noticeable in boys, who may not be doing as many outdoors activities as they used to.
The problem is compounded in London where many families live in flats without gardens and may not live near a park.
‘They don’t do what boys normally do – throw balls around, climb trees,’ he added.
‘They don’t things that boys do that you would normally associate with boy’s play.
Mr Drew said some children's handwriting is dreadful because of their lack of strength and that educational apps on tablets may be unwittingly stunting their physical development
‘That is a worrying trend that we have seen. I can’t believe we are unique.
‘It seems to be prevalent with boys because girls like to do a lot more tactile things. They tend to do things like beads, playing with hair, lots of crafts and arty stuff.’
Gearies, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted, has installed a new outdoor physical trail for exercises like press-ups and climbing across monkey bars.
Mr Drew, who was made OBE for his services to education in 2009, said he had seen ‘rapid gains’ from the new regime.
He said: ‘It’s really weird when you see children in a buggy who are not even in school, the younger siblings of children, coming in with mobile phones.
‘That’s what our parents use. They may have previously given the car keys or a rattle but now they give them mobile phones.’
It comes as parenting experts criticised a device which allows iPads to be attached to prams, warning it could damage children’s development.
Earlier this year, private school head Jo Heywood suggested primary school children are now speaking like toddlers because their parents are ‘pacifying’ them with iPads instead of talking to them.
She said too many parents are failing to communicate with young children, instead filling their homes with digital devices to ‘keep them quiet’.
In September, psychologist Dr Richard House warned giving iPads to babies is tantamount to child abuse because it is ‘playing Russian roulette’ with their development.
The former senior lecturer in early childhood at Winchester University said that devices such as tablets are ‘unnecessary, inappropriate and harmful’ for young children.
Research by Childwise recently found almost one in ten children aged up to four use their iPad before bed despite evidence that it is disruptive to sleep.
Rising numbers of pre-schoolers are also using their parents’ mobile phones to access apps while many already possess their own tablets and games consoles.
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