Posted on 02/12/2006 9:10:43 AM PST by tbird5
The Sunday Times - Britain
The Sunday Times February 12, 2006
Child guru says nurseries harm small children Sian Griffiths ONE of the world’s most popular parenting gurus is to warn that placing children younger than three in nurseries risks damaging their development.
Steve Biddulph, whose books have sold more than 4m copies worldwide, says that instead of subsidising nurseries, which do a “second-rate” job, the government should put in place policies to enable mothers to stay at home with their babies.
The advice signals a reversal of views for Biddulph, an Australian with more than 20 years’ experience as a therapist, whose previous bestsellers include Raising Boys and Raising Girls.
In his new book Biddulph will admit he has changed his mind because of growing evidence of increased aggression, antisocial behaviour and other problems among children who have spent a large part of their infancy being cared for away from home.
He argues that such children may have problems developing close relationships later.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
I think the suicide stuff happens after nursery school... They are very competative there, you have to get A+'s, not B's or even A's, to get into a good school. The school you go to determines your whole future. And the company you work for becomes a part of your family. They don't fire you - if you suck, they stick you in an office and let you rot all day. Its considered the lowest place to be in the world, and if you find yourself "useless" then suicide is often the only way out.
All that aside, I still like their nusery school idea.
I think you are very right here. And from the nurseries, children further their social skills from television and Hollywood. During my career I have had many co-workers and supervisors whose odd behaviors could easily be cast in Seinfeld. And it is getting worse. Few younger Americans have any significant social skills. They deal with others like they are on a series of Law and Order.
No one seems to ask what a single mom is supposed to do?
Stay home and live off of govt assistance to raise her kids or put the child in day care while she makes a living?
It's easy to sit back and say that everyone should stay home and raise their kids, but for some of us that just isn't available as an option. :-/
bump
when we had our first of three children 12 years ago, I stayed home with them and I loved it! I think I have much better children because of it but most importantly I believe that I "know" my children better than I ever would otherwise.
It was hard and we sacrificed financially and we had a hard time paying the bills...but we did it...it wasn't fun though and it didn't make me happy to be the "poor relation" but now that they are all in school and I work part time I know that I did the right thing.
The hardest part of it, though, was that I was one of the only ones doing it! I didn't have a support system(as my mother and her mother had) of other stay at home moms. I really needed that support and sounding board sometimes yet it wasn't there and I feel that I really missed out on something great!
And if the "big kids" are sadistic bullies, what happens?
Mts don-o has said you don't hire another woman to love and care for your husband. Why do so for your children?
What?! dumping your 3 year old and younger kid off so a stranger can raise them, does them harm????????????amazing!!!!!!
Author is pretty right except the government should not interfere with the parent's raising of their children.
You unintentionally raise a good point. My wife would be MISERABLE staying at home with our son; she has said so herself...she would get stir crazy and lonely. Nothing harms a child more than a persistently and visibly unhappy parent.
"No one seems to ask what a single mom is supposed to do?"
Now is the time to slowly turn everything back. Those who say divorce is OK, need to stop and tell of the harm to children and parents. The government has been supporting out of wed lock preganacies and that needs to stop. We now have a new generation fed lies from the liberals and the truth needs to speak louder. Divorce is not an option when you have small children. As the article states, most parents of day care children are professionals and married, who chose money over love and sacrifice. Most of the people I know who have their babies in day care are married!
Yes no one wants an unhappy parent. But want about the unhappy child. When you buy a house and car you have to take care of it. Why does no one HAVE TO take care of a child?
So it's better to stay in an unhappy and volatile marriage?
I daresay that would be far more harmful to the children.
Watch out for nursuries growing cannabis next to phylladundrums, too, they will affect your spelling :-)
My point is that under certain circumstances, a child with a happy mother AND a happy babysitter is HAPPIER than a child with only an unhappy mother.
"big kids"
The teacher (or whatever you call her) is there for more than a salary. It seems that big kid bullies would be less likely to materialize, because they would have grown up in this environment as small kids who learned one way or another how to behave. But if the big kids were, in fact, bullies, then it seems likely (though I have no proof) that the teacher would then have to step in. The video I saw had a big kid - a girl - pulling another kid away who was hitting people. She pulled him away and sat him down and held on to him and controlled him until he got his act together. All I can say is that I thought this was great stuff.
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