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Child care 'turns out smarter, nastier children'
Kashif
04/24/01 at 08:17:22
Child care 'turns out smarter, nastier children' The biggest long-term study of childcare has found that children placed with childminders or in nurseries turn out aggressive, disobedient and defiant by the time they are in kindergarten. Regardless of whether the children were from rich or poor homes and were looked after by a relative, a nanny or in a childcare centre, they showed heightened aggression at four and a half compared with those who were looked after by a parent. The researchers also found, however, that toddlers cared for in nurseries or by childminders learnt to speak and think more quickly, leading experts to suggest that childcare turns out children who are "smart but nasty". The controversial finding, by researchers from America, will reignite the debate about the benefits of childcare, which was inflamed last month by a British study of young adults showing that those who had a mother who worked full time achieved poorer A-level results. That study, by Professor John Ermisch of the University of Essex, was criticised because the childcare was delivered in the Seventies when it was less developed and fewer mothers were working. The new research was done with 1,300 children who have been followed since birth at 10 places around the United States. It was led by Dr Martha Cox and Dr Margaret Burchinal of the University of North Carolina and sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The results were presented at a conference of the Society for Research in Child Development in Minneapolis on Thursday. The more hours children spent in care outside the home the more aggressive towards other children and disobedient or defiant towards adults they were at four and a half. They were also more likely to bully, fight with or act in a mean way towards other children. "We saw that three times as many kids with extensive child care ­ 30 or more hours a week ­ had behavioural problems compared with the children who had little child care ­ less than 10 hours a week," Dr Burchinal said. "At the same time, though, we want to emphasise that these were not extreme behaviours. [They] were well within the normal range and might or might not disappear entirely later on." It was unclear from the research whether child care was the cause of the increased aggressiveness or whether more aggressive children tended to be placed in child care. There was also no indication of whether reducing the hours of care would reduce the risk that a toddler would grow into a defiant child. Aggressiveness could even turn out to be an advantage later on. The research showed clearly, however, that high-quality child care led to the greatest intellectual development of the children. Dr Cox said: "This work documents more strongly than ever before that better educated and trained teachers are providing more language stimulation so that the children they take care of do better on tests, regardless of family background." Stephen Burke, director of the Day Care Trust, the national British childcare charity, said: "These results [on aggressiveness] are very surprising. I don't know of any equivalent research in the UK. Our experience is that quality child care contributes to child development and positive behaviour. The key thing is the quality of the child care and, especially, having trained staff." He added: "There are many benefits for children and parents all of which need to be weighed. Childcare gives children a good start in life, parents are able to work, employers are able to attract the best people and it helps tackle child poverty. Childcare should be seen as an essential part of welfare provision like schools and GPs." http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/education/story.jsp?story=67876
NS

Re: Child care 'turns out smarter, nastier children'
BrKhalid
04/24/01 at 10:04:50
Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote]The research showed clearly, however, that high-quality child care led to the greatest intellectual development of the children. [/quote] I wonder what the results would have been like if this "high-quality child care" came from the mother

Re: Child care 'turns out smarter, nastier children'
eleanor
04/25/01 at 10:21:44
[quote] It was unclear from the research whether child care was the cause of the increased aggressiveness or whether more aggressive children tended to be placed in child care. [/quote] slm this is an interesting point. The "aggression" could be just the kid trying to make himself seen, heard, draw attention to himself. They have to go it alone in the world from a very early age. The kids are smarter and more independant. There's a connection here... ..think about it. These mothers have full time jobs, careers. Women who follow careers full time after childbirth are also usually intelligent and aggressive. They know what they want in life and nothing is going to stand in their way..be it a man,....or a little baby. So it's not off the ground the kids licked it is it? wlm eleanor ps: I would just like to add that I'm not in support of sending children to child minders. I'm *so* looking forward to being with my kids 24/7 and doing loads of great things with them.
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