Posted on 12/30/2006 4:39:20 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Working mothers are harming their children's long-term development by sending them to nursery from an early age, a leading author said yesterday.
Michael Morpurgo, the former children's laureate, sparked controversy by saying that it was "utterly extraordinary" that half of mothers with children under five had jobs outside the home.
He said lack of contact between children and parents was directly to blame for rising levels of mental health problems, sleep disorders and anorexia in young people.
The comments were dismissed by child care groups, which said studies showed that youngsters benefited from increased contact with other children as early as possible. But they won support from the Conservatives, who said nurseries were subjecting children to an unnecessarily formal education.
The debate follows the launch of The Daily Telegraph's Hold on to Childhood campaign – a drive to raise awareness of the damage caused by junk food, marketing, over-competitive schooling and electronic entertainment on children's lives.
Mr Morpurgo, recently awarded an OBE for services to literature, said: "It is utterly extraordinary now how many children grow up without their mothers around them. You have got 50 per cent of mothers these days of children under five who are employed outside the home. Well, you are cutting off something there, whether you like it or not, and it may be an uncomfortable thing to recognise."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that sending children to school at four or five was too early.
"We pack our children off to care groups or even to school, but many countries in Europe do not send their children until they are seven," he said. "They live in the bosom of their family. That is where they are nurtured – within the nest. That is where they can grow their wings, they can learn to fly." He added: "I don't think it is an accident that one in 10 of our children is suffering from mental health problems, from sleep disorders, from eating disorders and things like that."
In October, an eminent group of child care experts raised concerns about the long-term effect of placing children in inadequate day nurseries. In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, they said that separating children from their mothers risked "storing up behavioural difficulties".
Last year, research by Professor Michael Lamb, of Cambridge University, found that nurseries caused distress to young children. He found that levels of the stress hormone cortisol doubled in youngsters during the first nine days of child care without their mothers present and continued to be much higher among children five months after starting nursery compared with those who stayed at home.
Of the 521,000 day care places in England and Wales, about 85,000 are thought to be taken by under-threes.
Sue Palmer, a former head teacher, who wrote the book Toxic Childhood, charting the damaging influences of modern life, said: "Children need one-on-one care in their earliest years. It affects their education and gives them a head start in life. While nurseries can provide safety and warmth, they cannot provide the attention and consistency that a mother can."
However, Hayley Doyle, spokesman for the National Day Nurseries Association, said: "Many parents need to work and should not be criticised for choosing to send their children to a nursery. The vast majority of nurseries are recognised as being of a high standard and studies have shown that children who have been to them are, in the long term, higher achievers and better earners."
But David Willetts, the Conservative shadow education secretary, agreed that nursery education might be harming young children. "What is happening is we are making child care for three- and four-year-olds much too like a formal school experience – that's what all these Ofsted inspections are forcing them to do," he said. "We are not allowing children to go through their own development."
Penny Nicholls, strategic director of the Children's Society's two-year Good Childhood Inquiry, said: "We have one of the lowest wellbeing quotas in Europe for children. Even though we are twice as wealthy as we were 50 years ago, that wealth has not brought happiness."
I am bemused by the folks who insist that there is nothing wrong with outsourcing the raising of children.
Of course, it's usually just a rationalization of one's own selfish behavior. After all, "If I want it, it's good".
I am even more amused by the complaints I hear from parents about the problems they have with child care. They themselves can't be bothered with the children, but they expect paid mercenaries to actually give a darn about them!
I am glad to hear that it worked for you. You sound like the exception.
I say what I think based on observation. I have two kids and know many other families with kids. My point is that it is "better" to have a parent home (grandparen?) than to have children raised by others (daycare). I never said daycare couldn't work, what I said was that it wasn't the best case. Another point is that two jobs aren't necessary to pay for the things kids need most. Time is what is most necessary. Time to do things together, time to share and to "bond." That some can pull it off, doesn't make using daycare to raise children "best."
You are correct. There are countless negatives to having Mom work full time. But the Dems/Libs who are ruining our country will never recognize that as they do not deal with reality very well.
I found that with my youngest daughter, what they said worked out. She started learning to read at the same age as the others but had a terrible time for a fw years. She'd also write things in mirror image, perfectly. She pulled out of it about 5th grade. In the meantime, we taught her all she needed to know, just took our time with the reading. She's doing fine now. Just a late bloomer, I guess.
Paid mercenaries???????????
You sure sound defensive about your decisions. Why is that when you're so sure of yourself?
I have to admit I'm one of those parents who with my first child I had no choice, the second, sadly, I did and didn't come back home until he was four, and then off to kindergarten. What I regret to my dying day is all the time I missed, no making that up, no matter how great they turned out.
Unfortunately, I both my spouse and I worked during our children's pre-school years. Fortunately, my parents watched them while we worked. I believe that it is best that mom should be home, but some times circumstances don't allow for that.
The problem is that quality time (whatever that is) doen't happen on schedule. My Mom worked when I was growing up, and yeah, I'm ok. But I can tell you that when she came home after work she was tired. I loved my Mom and I know she did what she thought was best, and I treasure the time we DID have together, but I also resented (as a kid) her not being there when I got home.
Everyone does what they will do, and frankly, it's their own business. However, I think people need to make their decisions with their eyes wide open and based on the best information available no matter what they choose.
susie
They didn't have daycare centers staffed by strangers. The children either packed along with Mom or they were cared for by a family member (grandmothers/aunts/etc). THAT is the natural order of human existance. The idea of sending children into large same age groups to be tended by strangers is a modern contrivance as far as I can tell.
susie
The best situation is mom at home, but grandma is a great second-string mom and the kids will not suffer from that arrangement. Grandparents ususally love their grandchildren intensely.
The most common meaning of mercenary is a free lance soldier. Do you expect anyone do perform a job for free?
Nope, not defensive. Just hate to see people put down for using daycare when it can be an excellent alternative. I've seen maladjusted kids that were home schooled and very well adjusted kids who were not. A lot depends on the makeup of the child and the parent-child dynamic. Some parents cannot deal with children day in and day out and still function as an adult and relate to their husband. Some kids end up forever tied to mama's apron strings, never venturing much past that stage.To each his own.
Do you expect anyone do perform a job for free?
Do you expect anyone to love your children for money?
Grandparents ususally love their grandchildren intensely
You can say that again. I went to pop my daughter on her backside for doing something naughty, my Dad had a cow!
From your response it seemed that you may have thought I was equating daycare workers with warriors. Rather, I was pointing out that daycare workers are paid to perform a service, that service being to watch over children.
While many children do fine essentially being raised by strangers, the love of a mommy and daddy is generally preferable for the emotional and spiritual welfare of children.
Even if the daycare worker is a wonderful, warm individual, she or he is usually there temporarily. The turnover among daycare workers isn't much better in a typical center than at McDonald's. So how does a child bond to a succession of strange adults?
I agree that the love of parents is preferred. However, to suggest that parents who have two choices: both work or live in poverty, and choose to both work are somehow doing wrong, is a little over the top.
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