The Negitive Effects Of Day Care On Children

The Negative Effects of Day Care on Children

Now more than ever parents around America are dropping their children off at day care centers. Currently more than 56% of children in the USA, aged three to five years old are enrolled in day care centers. (Safety) According to the 1992 Census Bureau 60% of the mothers that leave their children at day care centers do it in order to maintain or improve the family's standard of living. (Child) In today's world standard means a few TV's, a computer, a couple of cell-phones and frequent vacations. Is paying the cable bill or cell-phone bill really more important than, being there with your child at the times when they need you most? How does day care really affect your child?

It is now not unusual for children to be placed in day care before they are even a year old. In one of his books Steven Biddulph parenting guru and psychologist wrote, "Too much, too early, too long, damages babies' brain chemistry and effects their social and emotional growth." During the 1st and 2nd years of a baby's life neurotransmitters, or brain pathways, are constantly being made and are permanent so everything a baby is experiencing is ingrained in their minds. (Biddulph) Parents are their guardians, Parents guard what they see. Day care workers can not monitor them as well as parents can. Putting a baby in day care is extremely bad for them.

One of the many dangers of day care is health risks. Day care centers are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Such bacterium includes, Streptococcus pneumonia (strep Throat), Escherichia coli (E coli), Bacillus (food poisoning), Klebsiella (respiratory tract infection) Micrococcus (septic arthritis), Pseudomonas (bacteraemia) and Brevibacterium (meningitis). The list goes on with Pantoea (cellulitis), Acinetobacter (osteomyelitis), Bacillus (the agent of anthrax), Nocardiopsis (pulmonary infections), Brevibacillus (chest infection), Corynebacterium (eye infection) and Staphylococcus (toxic shock syndrome).Dr. Ron Dagan said the following about day cares; "Day care centers act as microenvironments that facilitate and promote selection, spread and transmission of antibiotic-resistant respiratory tract organisms in the community and should be seen as major targets for intervention." (Totaro)

At the international conference on Child Day care Health, health specialist Richard A. Goodman noted that "Outbreaks of infectious diseases occur frequently within the day care setting." Yet not much is being done about this. In one Reno day care center 60 people and children were affected by Norovirus. Norovirus causes diarrhea and vomiting. In another incidence 63 young children, all from the same Day care center came down with Escherichia coli, most commonly known as E coli. This particular incident took place in August, 1997 in Minnesota. (Totaro)

Children at day cares also have a much higher stress levels. Studies show that the cortisol levels of those who attend day care centers are much higher than those who are cared for at home. (Maxwell) Most small children who deal with stress deal with it by either crying, becoming aggressive or irritable, or more sensitive children become nervous, fearful and panicky. Stress can also affect a child's immediate physical health. Asthma, hay fever, migraine headaches, upset stomach and diarrhea can be set of by stressful situations. "Stress can infect and affect the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and academic well-being of children. It can interfere with their motivation, attention, perception, memory and the entire learning process," says Dr. Harold Minden, a psychology professor and expert on stress at York University. (Maxwell) Stress also effects children's nutrition. Expert Jane Wardle comments, "Stress appears to be consistently harmful to children in terms of steering their food choices away from the healthy and towards the unhealthy," Children need good nutrition in the early stages of their lives because their bodies are changing and forming so quickly. Malnutrition especially at a young age could lead to future health problems.

Noise also has a major effect on young children. Research findings suggest that exposure to uncontrollable noise may make children more vulnerable to learned helplessness. (Maxwell) In a day care there are many little kids playing and kids at play are generally not quite. In one study conducted by Dr. Gary W. Evans, Evans and his colleagues noted that children attending a school near a busy road or airport were less likely to solve a challenging puzzle where as there counter parts persisted longer at it. The noise made it difficult and less motivating to work out. Also noise has an effect on children's ability to discriminate between important sounds especially speech. (Maxwell) This may have a negative effect on their academic performance.

Day care also has negative effects on a child's mental health. Those negative effects include, aggression and bullying, insecurity and the effects of separation. Preliminary research published by the National Institute of Child Health and Development found that children who spend a lot of their time in a day care setting were 3 to 4 times more likely to exhibit behavioral problems. Children are not born aggressive. They learn to be aggressive. (Biddulph) If a child spends all their time around a big group of other children there are not many good examples to follow. This is especially true between the ages of 12 months to 30 months. Children don't know how to voice or express there emotions or to use self control. For example, a three year old girl gets a doll taken away from her, she is frustrated because she doesn't know how t get it back peacefully, so she hits and kicks. The best solution to this problem is to have constant parental guidance and examples. Children also need to learn patience. Most Young children are not patient so a situation comes up and they can't control themselves. In day care there are many children and many children means less if any one on one time to teach or resolve conflicts.

The worst part of day care is the separation it creates. Developmentally, young