why lighter elements don't show inert pair effect?

Dear Harshita,

Inert pair effect is the tendency of the outermost s electrons to remain nonionized or unshared in compounds of post-transition metals

valence electrons in an s orbital are more tightly bound are of higher energy than electrons in p orbitals and therefore less likely to be involved in bonding.

An important consideration is that the compounds in the lower oxidation state are ionic, whereas in the higher oxidation state they tend to be covalent. Therefore covalency effects must also be taken into account.The lighter elements tend to become ionic they loose electron/s or gain electron/s to attain stability.because of the bigger size of heavy elements they cant attract the electrons in the valaency that efficiently that why they tend to have covalent bonda rathger than loose or gain electrons.

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