Assignment 4 – Discuss in-depth the positive and negative implications of day care for young children.
Day care is a routine part of the lives of a huge and steadily growing number of children. Nowadays it has become the norm for both parents in two-parent British and American families to work.
Different researchers have found wildly differing results as regards to the effects of day care on children. Andersson (1996) followed up 128 Swedish children, who had been in day care in early childhood, and assessed them on their intellectual and social-emotional development at 13 years and found, when compared with a group who had full time maternal care in their early years, that the children that had spent time in day care scored higher in both measures of academic achievement and social skills. This study indicates that day care can have very positive effects.
Day care gives children the chance to socialise with other kids in their same age group, learning social skills, sharing and compromising and these skills can be valuable as they get older and enter school. Children that have been in a day care setting at an early age may find the transitions into school easy. Day care provides a child with self independence by spending time away from their parents and siblings which will also help them learn to be self-reliant. Day care is also more reliable than hiring a babysitter or nanny as the individual can call in sick or take days off whereas day care is guaranteed coverage.
Day cares cannot operate without meeting the minimum safety and sanitation regulations. This meaning daycares cannot operate without passing certain criteria, this includes licensing and being supervised by experienced administration. As a result the government tries to make sure day cares provide some form of infant curriculum and also childcare providers are instructed in how to handle children in a professional manner and are trained in early childhood