Distracted by Smartphones, Parents Aren’t Teaching Their Children to Talk

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Do you pay more attention to your smartphone than to your child? Plenty of parents do, so much so that teachers and other professionals are realizing that neglected young children aren’t learning to speak properly, the Telegraph reported yesterday.

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Parents with their children at the playground, pushing a stroller, or eating at a café often aren’t interacting with them, instead they are absorbed in their phones. This “technoference”—phone use impairing interpersonal relationships is creating “an entire generation whose ability to communicate and understand the world around them is being disrupted by a lack of crucial face-to-face interaction.” This is compounded by preoccupied parents interacting less with other adults as well, giving children fewer social cues to emulate.

Preschools are “reporting a ‘disproportionate growth’ in children with below-average language and social communication skills, with some saying they arrive in their care with no speech at all.”

Plenty of anecdotal evidence shows kids getting frustrated with parents whose attention they can’t pull away from the phone. The Telegraphcites one study showing how smartphone use decreases parent-child interaction and connection, and points to parents even growing hostile when a child repeatedly seeks attention while they’re on a phone. Another tracked children’s feelings of frustration, anger and sadness over parental technology distraction.

These technologies are designed to addict us, and as they succeed, we easily lose sight of what is important in life, like responsibly bringing up the next generation. “[A] child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame” (Proverbs 29:15). Teaching and rearing children is a time-intensive, God-given duty that must not be neglected.

Our free book Child Rearing With Vision is filled with practical help for parents, including sections on teaching your child, getting a teenager to communicate and protecting young people from misusing technology.

Is Trump emboldening China to seize Taiwan?: United States President Donald Trump’s poor treatment of Taiwan is cementing his reputation as a betrayer of U.S. allies and could embolden China to invade the Island, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argued in the Telegraph yesterday.

• In July, the Trump administration reportedly denied permission for Taiwan’s president to make a stopover in New York after China objected.
• In August, President Trump levied 20 percent tariffs on Taiwanese goods, higher even than the rate on other U.S. Asian allies such as Japan and South Korea.
• In November, after Japan’s leader enraged China by saying an attack on Taiwan would prompt Japanese involvement, Trump had a chance to affirm support for America’s Japanese ally, back Taiwanese sovereignty and champion the rules-based global order. Instead, he essentially told Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to moderate her tone.
• Meanwhile, Trump has treated Ukraine not as a democratic ally under attack but as a troublemaker that has no right to defend itself from brutal aggression.

Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping has interpreted these developments as a signal that President Trump places a low premium on America’s partnership with Taiwan and that it may be time for China to make good on its longtime plan to seize the island. In recent months, Xi has increased gray-zone coercion tactics against Taiwan, including ramped-up cyberattacks, increased naval patrols and more than 1,000 military aircraft flights near the Island.

According to Evans-Pritchard, this could be just the start:

The worry is that Xi will force the pace harder the more he smells weakness, possibly launching a customs blockade of Taiwan to test the waters. Failure to respond would lead to the rapid disintegration of the U.S. alliance system in the Far East. … Early capture would enable China to inflict calibrated disruption on the U.S. and Western tech industry—or better yet, to exploit that leverage in pursuit of a total reordering of the international system.

The Trumpet said: In 1998, after Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to yield to Chinese pressure and issue a statement opposing Taiwanese independence, Gerald Flurry said it meant Taiwan’s days of freedom were numbered. He wrote:

The Chinese leaders pressured the president and America to speak against our freedom-loving friends before the whole world. … The people of Taiwan fear for their future. They feel betrayed. … Once again, America has showcased its broken will to the whole world. … How could anyone fail to see that Taiwan is destined to become a part of mainland China? These [24 million] people are going to be forced into the Chinese mold; and it is going to happen for one reason: because of a pitifully weak-willed America.

Does freedom really mean so little to us?

Mr. Flurry’s understanding of America’s weak will, and how it will factor into the China-Taiwan dynamic, is founded on Bible prophecy. Leviticus 26 records God warning the descendants of Israel—mainly modern America and Britain—that if they refused to turn to Him, He would “break the pride of [their] power” (verse 19). Learn more in Mr. Flurry’s article “Taiwan Betrayal.”

Germany dominates with new defense projects: Germany is “equipping our Bundeswehr to be powerful and resilient, and doing so as quickly as possible,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said yesterday as the parliamentary budget committee approved a record 30 major defense procurement projects worth around $60 billion. This brings the combined value of approved defense procurement projects in 2025 to about $120 billion.

It shows how Germany is leading Europe in rapidly militarizing. As the German Defense Ministry stated: “We are sending a signal to the [nato] alliance and our partners: Germany is leading the way.”

• The latest package includes 200 Puma infantry fighting vehicles, interceptors for the Arrow 3 missile shield system, a new satellite reconnaissance system, maritime drones and iris-t and Patriot surface-to-air systems.

Also this week, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office approved the cooperation between knds and Rheinmetall to develop the new Leopard 3 battle tank. Welt commented yesterday:

It can be seen as a carte blanche for Rheinmetall’s potential takeover of German tank manufacturer knds’s activities: The Federal Cartel Office has approved the joint construction of a new German Army battle tank ahead of the Franco-German mgcs tank, which is expected in 2045. What may sound like mere cooperation to some is in fact nothing less than a revolution in Europe’s tank business—with far-reaching consequences for the entire market. … Germany would expand and consolidate its market position as the world’s leading tank nation.

While Germany is solidifying its military dominance, the nation that stopped Germany in two world wars is putting the brakes on its own arms industry. Britain’s Daily Mail reported yesterday: “Britain’s defense spending plans were plunged into chaos on Wednesday night after the prime minister reportedly blocked a major investment boost.”

Fueled by the world’s third-largest economy, Germany’s military buildup far exceeds that of other European nations. The very arms industry that has helped start two world wars is powering up for a third time. The Bible warns that history is about to repeat itself.

IN OTHER NEWS

Global conflicts hit all-time high this year: A recent report from German geodata compiler Michael Bauer International shows a record-high 1,450 global conflicts between January and September, an increase of 52 over last year. And other conflict trackers showed 2024 set a new record for conflict, and 2023 did before that. While leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump brag about making peace, the data indicate otherwise, and Bible prophecy warns that violent conflicts are about to spread worldwide.

Australia responds to Bondi massacre with more hate speech laws: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced yesterday that the government will further restrict and prosecute people who promote violence, including preachers who promote hate speech, and will add further provisions for canceling or rejecting visas of people it finds to be spreading “hate and division.” This comes in the wake of two radical Islamists murdering 15 people, including a child, at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach. The increase in government power may allow Australian police to better combat Islamic extremism, but it may also be used against other religions and ideologies that the already overbearing federal government finds inconvenient.

Bongino to quit fbi: fbi Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced yesterday that he will step down in January after less than a year in office. Bongino thanked President Donald Trump, fbi Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “for the opportunity to serve with purpose,” but did not specify why he was leaving. Political commentator Mark Bradman opined on the Conservative Treehouse blog that “Bongino faced a big challenge with Director Patel refusing to accept institutional corruption was the biggest issue. You cannot correct problems of great consequence until you admit the core of the problem.”