SIR - Twice on the street recently, and twice on the bus, I’ve seen mothers with pushchairs, chattering away on their mobiles, taking no notice of their toddlers. The children have been well turned out and are obviously loved. But they are equally obviously desperate for attention and communication. They only learn to talk and to understand the world if they are talked to about what they are experiencing. Yet the mobile phone is depriving them of this essential.

No wonder nursery and infants teachers are saying children are, more and more, starting at school with a language deficit. I would like to make it a law that all pushchairs should be designed with the child facing the parent, not away from them. And I pray for a change in behaviour from parents - to relinquish their phones and learn to enjoy talking with their children. Language development is essential to emotional and educational success, and the early years are key to this.

But what do I know, I’m only a man - one who used to teach nursery nurses and nursery teachers at Bradford College in the last century.

Nicholas Bielby, Frizinghall Road, Bradford