Meanwhile, newborns may be cleverer than we think. The Times reported a study of deaf children in Nicaragua. Lacking exposure to adult signing, the children, some as young as four, have developed their own unique form of sign language, suggesting that children are born with an innate ability to acquire language The Guardian highlighted a sharp decline in teenage mental health.
According to a report in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, anxiety and depression in adolescents have risen by 70 per cent over the past 25 years. Problems are thought to begin in the early years, with an increasing number of under-twos exhibiting abnormal behaviour that is being diagnosed as depression.
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