Good communication skills among children begin at home, it has been said.
According to regional director of the Good Schools Guide Sue Fieldman, going to school is only "a secondary source" of learning communication skills.
"It is what the children learn at home and communicate at home that is the crucial element to learning how to interact with society," she said.
Her comments followed research from I CAN which showed that over 50 per cent of parents say they do not have enough time to communicate with their children and half of parents also believe their child has problems properly communicating.
Ms Fieldman called the findings a "dreadful reflection" on society.
She went on to point out the potentially negative impact of children spending too long in their bedrooms playing computer games and said that should youngsters be allowed to do this "for hours on end" then it is no surprise that they cannot interact with others "on any sensible level".
