Implications of Day Care in Young Children Essay

Within this assignment I will be discussing the implications of day care for young children and giving both the positive and the negative aspects of this. A study was done in the united states by Kagen (1978), the study was done on children whose mothers worked, in which case the children were put into day care centres compared to home –reared children. Kagen found little difference between the children placed in day care centres and those raised at home either in the amount of protest or seeking closeness to their mothers when upset. From the findings it appears that it doesn’t matter if a child is in day-care or raised at home or the amount of hours spent with its mothers, there is a special bond between mother and child. Bee (1974) Concluded that there are no negative effects when a child is cared for in a day care centre, provided these are run by trained professionals and only a small number of children. However, Bee (1997) also suggests â€Å"The crucial issue is the discrepancy between the level of stimulation that the child would receive at home and the quality of day care. When the day care setting for the child provides more enrichment than the child would normally receive at home, we see some beneficial cognitive effects. When day care is less stimulating than the child’s home care would have been, it has negative effects.† Psychologists disagree about the developmental effects of day care on young children. Some agree with Bowlby’s prediction that long to medium term separation from the mother could have far-reaching consequences. Others claim that, provided day care is high quality day care has no adverse effects on intellectual development and does not disrupt the child’s attachments. Some psychologists believe that it might even make a positive contribution to the child’s development. The type and quality of care can influence many aspects of development—including memory, language development, school readiness, math and reading achievement, the nature of relationships with parents and teachers, social skills, work habits, and behavioural adjustments Below I have tried to outline the positive and negative aspects of day care: – Positives * When children attend nursery or playschool it’s clear that peer relationships take on increasing importance but peer relationship importance  is important before this . Early as 6 months old babies smile and are more vocal to other infants. * Intellectual stimulation * Helps develop some social skills- building relationship with peers and other trusted adults other than those within the family. * Psychologists have shown there is no affect on the mother-child attachment * Children receive Adequate and nutritious meals Negatives * Putting a child into day care can cause the child stress ( i.e upset from being away from its mother)as can any situation in which the mother isn’t with the child. * If a day care doesn’t have the correct form of attachment for adults and the children as mentioned above ( conclusion raised by Barbara Tizard) this will not have as greater benefits as a quality day care that has this attachment and familiarity etc. * Some research in the US argue that day care can cause the child to grow up to be aggressive and disruptive once they reach school age (research taken from -NICHD national child care study)