Parents Need to Know More About Early Childhood

N E W   Y O R K, Oct. 12, 2000 -- Parents, professionals and policy makers are ignoring research on the most effective ways to raise healthy infants, and their inaction could lead to a more troubled society, two recent studies say.

“From Neurons to Neighborhoods,” a National Academy of Sciences analysis of 40 years of early childhood development research, found that despite explosive growth in the field, policy makers are not using new knowledge to inform government programs created to aid parents and infants. With more working parents than ever before, the Oct. 3 report calls for more support and wiser allocation of already-available early childhood funds.

The other study, released Oct. 4, confirms the need for wiser governmental parenting policies. A poll of 3,000 adults showed parents overwhelmingly approve of more government support for programs, such as paid parental leave. The survey was conducted in June and July by two nonprofit groups — Chicago-based Civitas and Zero-to-Three of Washington, D.C. — and Brio Corp., a toy manufacturer in Germantown, Wis.

“We’re not using the knowledge we already have, and early childhood issues aren’t on the political agenda,” says Dr. Jack Shonkoff, author of the National Academy of Sciences report and dean of the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. He spent more than two years reviewing early childhood research data to understand where the science stands and what development myths needs debunking.

Too Much Focus on Flashcards

Saying stable early relationships are a major determinant in babies’ later outlook on life, Shonkoff worries parents and professionals disproportionately focus on cultivating infants’ intellect at the expense of emotional and social development. Scientific evidence shows that even very young children are capable of experiencing deep anguish and grief in response to trauma, loss, and personal rejection. But many early childhood programs have failed to apply such findings to everyday dealings with kids, he concludes in the report.

“Supercharged enrichment doesn’t work,” agrees Dr. Kyle Pruett, Zero-to-Three president and clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale University Child Study Center in New Haven, Conn. Playing and interacting with children —even if it’s just using a Tupperware top — stimulates more curiosity than rigorous drills with fancy flashcards or computers, he explains.

The joint survey revealed a majority of parents had unreasonable expectations of their babies’ development, as well as misconceptions about discipline. According to the study, 62 percent of all adults said they believe that a 6-month-old infant can be spoiled.

Pruett says infants cannot be spoiled and that parents who leave very young babies crying in an attempt to toughen them up only teach their children that the world is unsafe and they aren’t cared for.

Another danger, he says, is spanking. The study found 61 percent of adults still condone spanking as a regular form of punishment, though research indicates it is detrimental to a child’s development. Of those, 37 percent think spanking is appropriate to children under 2 years of age.

The study also said 51 percent of parents of young children unrealistically expect 15-month-old kids to share toys.

Teaching Through Self-Discipline

Childhood development experts are worried by the figures. “Children are not raised by a parent’s discipline,” says Philadelphia-based child psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Berger, author of Raising Children with Character. “They are raised by parents’ self-discipline.”

She says the best way for parents to teach babies is by being emotionally responsive, mature and respectful. “Tensions run high all the time in normal families but if parents are emotionally self-disciplined, children will identify and emulate,” Berger says. “A child who feels his parents are kind will feel guilty about his aggression.”

Since infants are highly attuned to mood even when in the womb, Pruett warns, they are also susceptible to parental depression. Kids who sense a caregiver’s sadness or anxiety can become withdrawn and fall off the developmental track, but the survey showed that 61 percent of parents were unaware of this.

“The reality is that a 4-month-old can be clinically depressed,” says Zero-to-Three Executive Director Matthew Melmed. “Babies are programmed to interact, but if they don’t get it back they withdraw.” Nurturing plays a critical role in the brain’s growth during infancy, he says.

Melmed and his colleagues want to raise public awareness about infant depression to save them from experiencing mental illness in adulthood. Although there are no figures on infant depression, he says, Early Head Start programs nationwide, serving pregnant moms as well as mothers of babies and toddlers, report 30 percent to 50 percent of their caseload consists of women who are depressed and putting their kids at risk for the same.

“We need to help parents early on with things like maternal depression, marital conflict and violence in the home,” adds Pruett. But he emphasizes the poll was not created to make parents feel bad, rather to generate discussion that could prevent later problems.

Shonkoff, the author of the National Academy of Sciences report, believes an important way to help deal with those problems is for government to encourage businesses to offer paid parental leave and better quality child care. It is impossible to raise children independently, he says, and government, businesses and parents need to cooperate to create a healthy society.

“This sin’t a blame game,” says Shonkoff. “It’s a call for the country to rethink how we approach parenting and early childhood development.”