Daycare pseudoscience

[u/blankblank]

https://worksinprogress.co/issue/daycare-pseudoscience/

[u/ga-co]

Daycare is where you learn to make friends. It seems like we need more of that and not less.

[u/tofutak7000 → u/ga-co]

I think this reflects part of the problem with how we look at daycare.

For a three year old yes. For a two year old it depends. For a one year old almost certainly not.

Until certain developmental milestones children are not learning to make friends, they can’t

[u/FaithlessnessDue7226]

I’m sure it depends on the daycare, same as a child’s wellbeing generally relies on whether the family they were born into is healthy or not.

Ultimately i think it’s healthy for a young child to be cared for by early childhood professionals. A lot of teachers in preschools are very educated around supporting a child’s development, and in my preschool, we worked on helping children learn to communicate boundaries and process big emotions in a safe environment, which is very healthy in the long term. It requires a great deal of patience and knowledge of early childhood development.

Teachers have to pass background checks and are constantly taking classes around child safety year round. Some children who are unfortunately being abused or neglected by their families get the help they need as well as teachers are mandated reporters and know the warning signs to look for.

Children get to play with other kids, form relationships, learn to trust other safe adults, and have new experiences. Daycare is also helpful for the parents who need a break or need to work.

[u/SeasonPositive6771]

This article really is not substantial enough to address this issue.

It doesn't differentiate between daycare and early childhood education, which is a major mistake in many of these conversations. Often when politicians or even professionals in the field discuss the topic, they will use daycare as a shorthand for ECE.

There are massive, undeniable benefits to ECE, and it comes off as a bit disingenuous when you lump them all together like this.

[u/Brilliant_Voice1126]

Seems like a pretty obvious ploy to try to get women out of the workplace.

[u/blankblank]

Summary: Both sides of the daycare debate overstate their case: critics on the right claim it traumatizes children and damages their developing brains, while politicians and international bodies present it as a driver of higher graduation rates, lower crime, and economic growth. The actual research is far weaker than either narrative suggests because raised cortisol readings are noisy and hard to interpret, the famous studies showing large gains involved tiny samples of highly disadvantaged children receiving intensive wraparound support, and the modest academic benefits found elsewhere tend to fade within a few years of starting school.

[u/Faolyn → u/blankblank]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the “critics on the right” simply want more stay-at-home moms who are financially dependent on their husbands.

[u/Louise1467 → u/Faolyn]

Bingo. Under the guise of caring about children’s well being

[u/SeasonPositive6771 → u/Faolyn]

They also like to pretend that daycare is the only early childhood education, and so by diminishing daycare, they can justify cutting ECE, despite the extensive evidence that it is very good for kids and families, and even saves money.

[u/whosaysimme → u/blankblank]

I have felt for the longest that it doesn't matter either way, but parents of young kids can be overly anxious and neurotic about "doing things right".

I've met tons of people and I'm never able to guess who went to day care versus having a SAHM. Which i guess makes sense because having a SAHM is a U shaped distribution. Both the very rich and very poor do it at higher rates than the middle class. Which also makes me think that it can't matter that much. 

[u/tofutak7000 → u/blankblank]

What about critics not on the right?

What about people considering the idea of childcare not involved in the American culture wars???

[u/Louise1467 → u/tofutak7000]

Can you expand on this? What do you mean?

[u/tofutak7000 → u/Louise1467]

In other parts of the world, eg Australia, the discussion around the pros, cons, and necessities (for many ) of childcare do not exist as some kind of left/right debate.

Many people who would be considered on the left view childcare as being born out of a necessity to work in order to afford housing which comes at the cost of aspects of early child development. Many would consider that the ‘choice’ for both parents to work has eroded to the point where it is a necessity.

The debate here tends to therefore focus on balancing flexible work arrangements with stages of care from about 1 year old onwards. Especially when it comes to extended care outside of things like kindergarten (from 3 funded by gov for 2 days).

[u/PentaOwl]

Its not folding if it is completely voluntary while kissing the ring with a bent knee.

[u/Dismal_View_5121]

Jordan Peterson's nepo-podcast child and a partisan hack psychoanalyst who claims that children's amygalae are "burning out" are not credible sources for like anything.