Reading this made me sad, but for a different reason than I&#x27;d anticipated when I first started reading. The trigger for me was the realization that our children are not having the conversations that they ought to be having.<p>Talking with&#x2F;to children is important for their mental development, or so I have been told. I am no expert on this matter, but this is what I have come to understand. It&#x27;s rooted on the understanding that social expertise is developed by means of continual practice; if kids do not play&#x2F;socialize&#x2F;work together at a young age, they risk not sufficiently developing this skill as they grow.<p>If we are seeing anti-social behavior from children these days it would seem that trends in contemporary society have caused a decline in the opportunities kids have for conversing with others. The lacking development of our auditory sensory skills means a lacking development in the other sensory categories - speaking and hearing are the categories we master first as humans.<p>I don&#x27;t believe the cause of this is limited to the apparent advances in the stupidity of early childhood educators, as it is likely that the on-demand exposure to engaging media content at younger ages and other related trends are also to blame. After all, if a kid is staring at a screen, they are not developing their social functions, either.<p>In general, I believe this damage can be sourced back to the general trends of the modern household, which has both parents working full-time just to get by economically. The humans with which the child is most willing to converse are not available and instead the child is left in a scenario that more resembles Lord of the Flies.<p>This is all why I, personally, do not plan to bring children into this world until I can afford the time to raise them with the love and attention they deserve. So that the availability of finances has no bearing on their future. I owe any being I bring into this earth at least that courtesy.