回复: 每天看到孩子到幼儿园开心的样子,很放心
Few parents have heard about the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care, an ongoing $100 million survey of 1,100 children. It's the largest and most rigorous examination of day care in history, taking into account family income and the quality of day care. Evidence from the study shows that the total number of hours a child is without a parent, from birth through preschool, matters. The more time in child care of any kind or quality, the more aggressive the child, according to results published in Child Development. Children in full-time day care were close to three times more likely to show behavior problems than those cared for by their mothers at home.
Belsky contends that the current results clearly show children benefit from fewer hours in child care, especially at a very young age, and parents should be advised to limit the hours their young children spend there. NICHD researcher Sarah Friedman—who, along with Belsky and many other scientists, works on the NICHD study—emphasizes that 83 percent of children who spend 10 to 30 hours in day care did not show higher levels of aggression. Friedman says the study results so far don't tell her anything.
"It's so obvious that this is the worst of politically correct rhetoric," counters Belsky, adding that if researchers were studying the amount of time spent in poverty and they got the same results, no one would dare put a neutral spin on the data.
Belsky has been outspoken on the issue for decades. In the 1980s, his studies showed that children spending long hours in day care had higher levels of aggression than those raised by their mothers. Detractors excoriated him then for using bad science to criticize working women.
Belsky argues that other NICHD scientists gloss over the finding that the aggressive children in the study were more than just a little defiant. They were in the "at risk" range, meaning their behavior was close to the threshold requiring therapy. The children with problematic behavior were regularly observed being disobedient. Parents and caregivers noted frequent hitting of other children and caregivers, arguing, cheating, destruction of objects and demands for excessive attention.
Although Belsky's harsh words haven't won him many friends, some researchers think he has a point. Kathy McCartney, an education professor at Harvard and another NICHD day care researcher, concedes the aggression results are significant, but won't offer cautionary advice without more research. "So far it is looking like he's right," says McCartney, who criticized Belsky's claims in the past. "Long hours in child care are associated with behavior problems."
Still, McCartney questions what parents and policy makers should do with the information since solutions aren't obvious. "I don't think there is a simple answer to the question 'Does child care pose a risk?' because it clearly does for some children, but not all children," she says.
The real question is whether parents can afford to wait years for more answers. What if, Belsky asks, "kids experiencing long hours in day care are more likely to use drugs, are less ambitious and have trouble with relationships? Parents will say, 'How come no one warned me?' It is our scientific responsibility to tell people what they may not want to know."
Bad Behavior
Data from a government study show a strong link between the total hours per week a child spends in day care and behavior problems at age 5. The 113 behaviors surveyed include frequent arguing, temper tantrums, lying, hitting and unpredictable conduct.