According to an article appearing on the Telegraph.co.uk:

The demise of the traditional family is breeding a generation of children who are increasingly relying on teachers to become surrogate parents, a prominent education leader warned yesterday.

Thousands of children lacked basic social skills, said John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.
Many pupils were unable to hold simple conversations, use a knife and fork or sit at the table, he added. Others suffered serious behavioural problems because of the lack of a stable home life.

For too many young people, school was the “only solid bedrock in their lives” where they experienced clear moral boundaries.

This is a sad fact of today’s high pressure family lives, where parents are often working long hours and multiple jobs to financially support the family while also sacrificing the basic foundation that builds strong, healthy families.