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Michala Sledd

Joanie Foster

Composition II

31 March 2017

Is Daycare crucial to a Child's Development?

Bringing a child into the world should be a cause for a celebration, and for most

parents, it is. However, most new parents often find that the stress of arranging

childcare is overwhelming. New parents struggle with making a decision of whether or

not daycare is most effective for their family. A parent should not have to worry about

their child during the day. Daycare should be one of the safest places in the world

seeing that they are caring for many different children. However, there have been cases

of child abuse and domestic violence in the childcare setting. A child care facility

typically specializes in caring for children starting at six weeks all the way through five

years old. Many people around the United States have brought the problems of

childcare to the attention of the parents. Childcare should be an environment full of

children learning, playing, and interacting with other children, instead, parents are

worried that their child is not getting proper care. In todays society, daycare is a dispute

between parents with different views. I believe that daycare is not as reliable for proper

development as a stay at home parent. Some parents feel that daycare is unsafe for

their child in fear of lack of proper care which is essential for the development of a

young child. According to a survey released by Public Agenda, seventy percent of

parents with children five and under say that one parent at home is the best child care
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arrangement during a childs earliest years. A great deal of parents argue that no one

can do as good as a job of raising children as their own parent. Parents are becoming

convinced that very young children need attention from someone who truly cherishes

them. A study, done by Public Agenda, suggested that parents are distrustful of relying

on a stranger to care for their child. Seventy one percent of parents agree that day care

should be the last resort. Not only could a stay at home parent benefit a child, but also a

grandparent or close family member. Although many citizens are skeptical about child

care, parents are aware that a day care can give good care. Many often say that day

care can benefit their child, such as teaching them at a young age how to interact and

get along with their peers.

Today, parents are spending around $1,100 out of pocket for childcare every

month. This is just twenty eight dollars less than the average mortgage (Dias 38).

According to an article written by Elizabeth Dias, childcare cost more than twice as

much as a year of tuition and fees at Florida State University. Across the United States,

parents are struggling with childcare cost everyday. Almost two-thirds of parents with

children under the age of six weeks, and families with a working mother spend twice as

much on childcare as they did thirty years ago(Dias 39). Many parents are suggesting

that having one parent stay at home with the children will possibly save money.

Although they will only have one income, paying childcare would not be an option.

Some parents however are unable to quit their job in order to take care of their children.

In todays society, it is expected for both parents in a family to work. When life gets

tough, the US is notoriously lacking in policies that support employees to take off during
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this time. However, more employers are choosing to provide paid parental leave.

Choosing to do this helps in order to take some time off to spend much needed one on

one time with their kids.

While childcare is a trend that many parents are choosing to use, keeping your

child at home or with a loved one is a way to ensure that your child is safe and avoiding

as much as negativity as they can. Although daycare tends to be a safe place for

children to stay, there are some cases in which domestic violence or sexual abuse have

occurred. According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, more than

3.5 million reports from CPS agencies were received in 2013 alone. In order to qualify to

work at a daycare, you must be 18 years of age or older and you must have a high

school diploma at the least. Before you are employed, you must undergo a background

check that is verified by DHS (Arkansas Department of Human Services). Even though

a worker must undergo a background check, this is no way to ensure the way they will

care for a child. A report from Jeff Rasansky at the Rasansky Law Firm found that 5,321

daycare providers were found to be abusing and neglecting children in their care in the

United States. Many parents argue that keeping their child at home or with a nanny is a

way to ensure the safety of their child.

However, in light of worrying about the advantages and disadvantages of

childcare, an article written by Meera Lee Sethi for the Greater Good Science center at

UC Berkeley brought up a whole new argument. Meera Lee found that mothers who

use childcare reap social, psychological, and even financial rewards. As Sethi reports

By plugging into childcare centers that were themselves connected to other nonprofits
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and government organizations, mother's effectively multiplied the size of their support

networks with no effort required on their part. Often parents are turned away from

childcare because of the price, however, the children are working on interaction and

social development skills while they are there. There are other ways a child can receive

social development skills such as taking your children on a play date with other children

to let them interact with them. Although your child would be interacting with other, they

would not receive the same interaction that take place during the whole week during the

time spent at daycare.

Today, the average child is spending about thirty hours a week in a childcare

facility. According to The New York Time, a study done by The National Institute of

Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care found that 4

1/2-year-olds who had spent more than 30 hours a week in child care were more

demanding, more aggressive and more noncompliant than others. From experience of

working in a daycare, a child who spends excessive amounts of time away from their

family and parents do tend to crave attention. When a toddler wants attention, they tend

to be aggressive so that the child care provider will acknowledge them. If a child was

spending thirty plus hours at home with a parent or loved one, they would receive

attention, meaning they would most likely be less aggressive fighting for someone to

pay attention to them. Tamar Lewin writting for The New York Times also states that

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child

Care has tracked the same children through early elementary school and found that by

third grade, those who had spent long hours in child care continued to score higher in
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math and reading skills and that their higher likelihood of aggressive behavior had

dissipated. But it also found that they still had poorer work habits and social skills.

Although the children are advancing in math and reading skills in which they most likely

learned from daycare, they were still lacking in social skills, which are crucial to a childs

proper development.

As a daycare employee, I experience the behavior of children on a daily bases.

Children who spend thirty hours or more a week in a childcare facility crave attention.

Some children smile and play all day while others cry for their parents the majority of the

day. Every child has different needs and daycare is not the answer to every parent's

solution. The early stages of a child's life is the most important part of their

development. Often times, a child acts and behaves the way they were taught. Daycare

is crucial to the way a child is developed. Lacking interaction with their parents does

affect a child. Children need to spend time and learn and grow from their parents and

family and not from a daycare. Although, we daycare employees love teaching children

and caring for their every need, its not us who they need it from, its from the parents.
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Works Cited

Dias, Elizabeth. "The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Child-Care Problem." 188

(2016): 38-43. Web.

Lewin, Tamar. "3 New Studies Assess Effects of Child Care." The New York Times 1

Nov.

2005: n. pag. Web.

Miller, Farah L. "The Surprising Benefit Of Daycare." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Scios, Brain. "Parents of Young Children Yearn to Be Home to Care for Them, Show

Wide-Ranging Distrust of Day Care Centers." Parents of Young Children Yearn to Be

Home to Care for Them, Show Wide-Ranging Distrust of Day Care Centers. N.p.,

n.d.

Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

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