YouTube binges during the pandemic instead of going to school have given British children American accents
- Teachers say that the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas
British schoolchildren have developed American accents after watching hours of US videos and TV programmes on YouTube during the pandemic.
Teachers say the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas where youngsters were left watching American content on smartphones and tablets, instead of being in class.
English teacher Geoff Logan said: ‘I have knowledge of children who returned to school since the various lockdowns with American accents … Their voices have changed.’
Mr Logan, who teaches in St Helens, Merseyside and has 40 years’ experience, added: ‘When you consider the amount of time that some young people spend on smartphones and on laptops, it isn’t surprising to me that they mimic the accents.
‘That’s the way we learn language anyway, by mimicking the sounds we hear.
Teachers say the problem is more acute in disadvantaged areas where youngsters were left watching American content on smartphones and tablets, instead of being in class (stock image)
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‘It used to be that you could have a shared conversation with a child or a class of children about a television programme.
‘It is very, very difficult these days to find that common reference point because young people do not watch television.
‘They watch streams of things and YouTube videos, where they get their worldview from, and most of these are American.
‘If that’s all you’re watching it’s quite reasonable to expect that gradually your voice will change and the way that you pronounce things will change.
‘Should we be teaching our pupils spoken English in school? I’m hating myself for saying this, but yes, we should.
‘I do it far more than I ever used to because I’ve decided there is a need for it.
‘It annoys me that standard English is being abused in the way it is and it annoys me that there are too many Americanisms.’
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