It is fairly well accepted that dysfunctional families have a negative impact on the capacity of children to learn. Last year the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK made reference to research in both Europe and the United States which showed that “family stability – or the lack of it – was an important determinant of a child’s educational outcomes.” The association went on to warn: “If we are not careful we could reach that crossover point when no matter how much we invest in education and no matter how hard schools and teachers try, they will not be able to overcome the negative impact of broken and dysfunctional families.” It should be noted that they also added poverty to the mix as representing a key factor in making children unable to learn.
