When the National Institutes of Health issued some good-news-and-bad-news findings this week for working parents with young children, it started with the “good” news…

The rest of the world focused on the bad. The longer children had spent in day care centers before kindergarten, researchers had found, the more likely their sixth-grade teachers were to report “problem behavior,” such as getting into fights, arguing or being disobedient.

The findings were subtle, and the level of disruptive behavior fell into the normal range - nuances lost in the headlines. Still, parents, daycare providers and the media focused on the negative findings, and it’s obvious why: The “day care debate” - is it good or bad for kids? - is one of the most angst-ridden issues facing parents…

“It’s another potential guilt-inducer,” says Janet Chan, editor in chief of Parenting magazine, who’s careful not to knock the science, which she calls impressive. “It just taps into this reservoir of guilt that’s waiting to bubble up anyway. I don’t think there there’s a mom alive who isn’t ambivalent about her choices. It’s part and parcel of being a parent.” …

The study’s lead author, Jay Belsky, is no stranger to controversy. He says he was vilified for an article he wrote in 1986, saying there was “slow and steady” evidence that non-parental child care, no matter the quality, could lead to developmental problems. Critics called him an ideologue…

“The question of whether day care is bad for kids has been going on for 30 years,” says Peggy Sradnick, director of Basic Trust, a well-regarded center in New York City. “It doesn’t matter: day care exists. Bad day care is bad for kids, and good day care is good for kids.” …

Dvorak says the problem isn’t with day care itself - it’s that a lot of parents don’t realize that “day care doesn’t replace the parenting that you do at home.”

Source: Belleville News Democrat
Belleville News Democrat