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readingsforwrittingassigment2.docx10/12/2009 Making an aggressive case for day car...
10/12/2009 Making an aggressive case for day car...
10/12/2009 Making an aggressive case for day car...
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Sally Kalson |
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post-gazettam
Making an aggressive case for day care's benefits
Wednesday, Apnl 25, 2001
Mark once said that hopefill reports ofhis death had been geatly exaggerated. Parents would do well to take a similar view of last week's brouhaha over aggression and day care.
News reports quoted a professor who warned that children in rmre than 30 hours ofday care a week are more aggressive. But what he ñiled to is that these "aggessive" children were well within the normal range Weather* ofbehavior, and their incidence ofhitting or bids for attention were no greater
CLICK HERE than in the population at large.
post-gazette.com So anyone to today's moms with tormrrow's super
Headlines
predators on the basis of this study is way out on a limb.
by E-mail
The professor in question is Jay Belsky, fornMly of Penn State and currently ofthe University and he's entitled to his spin. But some ofthe study's other 28 researchers including two at the University of Pittsburgh -have a different interpretation of the same results.
The fidings come from the longest-running investigation into the effects of child care the nation's history. Begun in 1991 by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human DevelopnEnt, it has 10 teams ofresearchers around the country following 3, 100 ñmilies from the birth oftheir children through the sö(th grade.
Their reports are always eagerly awaited because people on all sides of the day-care debate have signed on to the project. But that doesn't mean they agree on what the results nEan.
I called Pitt psychologist Susan Campbell, a principal researcher along with her Pitt colleague Celia Brownell, to ask if she agreed with Belskÿs
"Absolutely not, " said.
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The study find that children m rmre than 30 hours ofday care had a higher rate ofaggressive behaviors than those fewer hours or no care, Car*ll said, but even those elevated rates were no higher in the general population of4 and 5-year-olds.
'These kids are nornnL" said. 'We're not talking about clinically significant levels. They don't need to be referred for help because theÿre aggessive. There is no cause for alarm here."
Armng the studÿs other recent results:
· Children in higher quality care in the first 4 1/2 years had better language and cognitive developfiEnt and were rmre ready for school
· Children who watched a lot did rmre poorly in language and cogffire developnEnt.
· Caregvers with rmre training and fewer children their charge were rmre stirmlating and responsive, so the children did better.
'We can't regulate the way people behave with kids, but there are we can regulate in child care, such as training, education and ratios, " Car*ll said.
'th'that we need is higher quality child care across the board."
SonE have read ofBeLskÿs take on the NICHD study and concluded that parents -- usually rmthers -- should stay home with their chluren That is always an option for those who choose it, but thß would be a good tinE for a little reafty check.
Last year, according to the Bureau ofLabor Statistics, 9.7 mülion with children under age 6 were in this country. Son•E 6.9 million worked fill] tinE and another 2.8 million part time. All told, they accounted for 7 percent ofthe nation's enployment rolls.
That's not enough to collapse the whole economy ifevery one of them quit their jobs tormrrow, but it's enough to make for a pretty uncomfortable squeeze.
And the fields where dominate the work force -- say, teachers, nurses, health care aides and administrative staff-- it's certainly enough to throw the nation's schools, hospitals, nursing homes and large corporations into a labor crisis.
What thß that day care isn't going away. Families need it; the economy needs it; welñre reform needs it.
This doesn't nEan the 30-hours ñctor should be discounted in day-care discussions. Indeed, it could make a good for offeñg the options ofreduced work weeks, flexible schedules or a year off after the
ofa child.
But parents should not be scared into quitting their jobs on the basis of this study, reports ofwhich have been yeatly exaggerated.
Sally Kalson 's e-mail address is [email protected]
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