Any study that finds negative effects for children in daycare is going to be greeted by hysteria on several fronts. The results will be brandished by organisations and individuals, mostly on the political right, seeking ammunition for keeping mothers in the home. Those involved in early years and childcare will, on the whole, be equally vehement about the worth of good- quality childcare. So the latest findings from the American Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (see News, page 4) will cause controversy, especially as the research team includes Professor Jay Belsky of Birkbeck University, whose outspokenness on this issue has raised many hackles in recent years, even among his own colleagues. As Professor Belsky is keen to point out, however, he is only reporting the results. In this case, he is 'truly sorry to say' that the more time children spent in daycare, the more aggressive and disobedient they were rated by teachers - and the quality of care had no mitigating effect.
Any study that finds negative effects for children in daycare is going to be greeted by hysteria on several fronts. The results will be brandished by organisations and individuals, mostly on the political right, seeking ammunition for keeping mothers in the home. Those involved in early years and childcare will, on the whole, be equally vehement about the worth of good- quality childcare.
So the latest findings from the American Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (see News, page 4) will cause controversy, especially as the research team includes Professor Jay Belsky of Birkbeck University, whose outspokenness on this issue has raised many hackles in recent years, even among his own colleagues. As Professor Belsky is keen to point out, however, he is only reporting the results. In this case, he is 'truly sorry to say' that the more time children spent in daycare, the more aggressive and disobedient they were rated by teachers - and the quality of care had no mitigating effect.
We might not like these findings; we might question their interpretation; we might say that the study only involves children in the US. But we owe it to young children to debate the issues seriously. We should remember, too, that the survey found the family environment to be the most important factor of all.
