Our Economic Future Depends on Investing in Children Now
Posted by Danny Jensen in 
You’ve heard the arguments before, but last week the Partnership for America’s Economic Success (PAES) hosted a National Economic Forum on Early Childhood Investment in Washington DC. This conference continued to champion the importance of investments in early childhood education as essential to the economic prosperity of our country.
Attending the conference were a wide range of business leaders, policy experts, educators, and government officials, Democrats and Republicans, united (surprisingly) in their recognition that investing in children is both a moral and economic imperative. In his opening remarks, Robert Dugger, Managing Partner for the Hanover Investment Group and founder of PAES, outlined 5 key principles for allocating state and federal resources:
- Human Capital – To achieve growth and fiscal sustainability, government should place its greatest emphasis on strengthening the skills and capacities of every American
- Young Children – Our nation should focus especially on children, from before birth to five years of age, and their families
- Evaluation – Return on investment should be a key consideration in public resource allocation decisions
- Transparency – Government should enable citizens to understand and participate in the assessment of all revenue and spending decisions
- Sustainability – State and federal budgets should be viable over the long term
While Michael Mandel, former Chief Economist of Business Week, made a compelling economic case for investing in early childhood education, Representative John Spratt (D-South Carolina) provided a sobering reminder of the broader economic challenges facing our country and the competing priorities for our limited resources.
Investments take time and patience, and political horizons are often short, seeking only immediate returns. While it is easy to feel skeptical, disillusioned and disenfranchised with the muddled state of affairs in Washington, it is more important than ever to raise your voice on behalf of your children and children throughout our country.
Our representatives need to know that children come first and that our economic future and security depends on that investment—and, in turn, that your support depends on their wisdom and courage to stand up for children. Reach out to your local and national representatives with this message.
Let your voice be heard. Every year more than 4 million children are born in this country, and every year that we compromise their future is a year that they can never get back–nor can we.
What is the Most Effective Discipline for Children?
The January 2010 issue of Scientific American Mind resurrected an old argument about the use of corporal or physical punishment and its impact on children. This age old question is whether and in what circumstances is physical punishment warranted by parents or, for that matter, in programs and schools serving children.
While there is little support for using extreme severe physical punishment of children, some still argue that corporal punishment can be appropriate if it is mild or used in moderation.
An extremely comprehensive 2008 report by Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff entitled Report on Physical Punishment in the United States: What Research Tells Us About its Effects on Children indicates that only 29 percent of American parents are opposed to the use of physical punishment, a surprising statistic in light of overwhelming evidence that physical punishment does little to improve children’s behavior in the long run and can actually cause harm.
In fact, a 2002 report led by Dr. Gershoff that was published in the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Bulletin journal, examined over 6 decades of research data on the effects of corporal punishment on children and found that the sole benefit of increased immediate compliance on the child was more than offset by 10 negative outcomes on children including increased child antisocial behavior and physical abuse of the child by the parent.
An equally concerning 2006 study by Ohene, Ireland, McNeely, and Borowsky, reported in the journal Pediatrics compared the attitudes and intentions of children between 10 and 15 years old to use violence to resolve conflicts and their parents’ expectations and use of corporal punishment. These researchers found that children whose parents use physical discipline are more likely to use violence to resolve conflicts. On the positive side, children of parents who disapproved of the use of violence showed more positive, pro-social attitudes and were less prone to violence.
Given that physical punishment is substantially ineffective and even detrimental to children, still leaves open the question of how best to provide effective discipline to children. A great resource at the end of Dr. Gershoff’s 2008 report provides numerous books, articles, websites, and other resources to provide support for parents on how to approach child guidance from a positive perspective. These resources are well worth checking out.
Thoughts on Week of the Young Child
It is hard to believe that this week (April 11 – 17) is 2010’s Week of the Young Child, as it seems that it was only yesterday that we celebrated this last year. For those of you that are not familiar with this event, it is a weeklong opportunity to focus on the importance of early childhood education and acknowledge the important role that teachers play in the lives of their children.
Specifically, the goals of the Week of the Young Child are to:
- Promote early literacy and learning
- Recognize and thank teachers for the important work they do
- Influence public policy in your community, in your state, and nationally
With these important goals in mind, it is disheartening to see how issues related to the status of children, particularly young children, receive considerable lip service, but relatively limited support in terms of the financial commitments needed to ensure that children have the opportunity to enter school ready to learn and succeed. Even as the economy shows some signs of recovery, state legislators look to cuts in supporting early childhood education programs.
In states such as California, Georgia, and Arizona, the options are not about whether there will be cuts, but rather by how much. Fortunately, some states such as Pennsylvania have attempted to maintain their commitments to early childhood education, but there remain significant gaps between the number of children who need services and the funds available to meet their needs.
On the Federal level, the $10 billion hoped for in the Early Learning Challenge Funds, which were at the heart of President Obama’s support for early childhood education, may have been lost in the debate over health care despite a July 2009 statement by the Department of Education stating that, “President Barack Obama believes that we cannot afford to short-change the early learning needs of our youngest children. America’s economic competitiveness depends on providing a high-quality learning environment for every child – from birth through age 5 – to get the early start needed to succeed in school and in life.” I hope that this will not be the case.
Despite these setbacks, or perhaps because of them, it is more important now than ever to advocate for the importance of investing in our children’s future. Our children cannot vote, and the only voice they have is yours.
Supporting quality early childhood education and educational opportunities for all children are issues that can cut across party lines. If our future generations are to have even a chance at addressing the challenges they will inherit from us, from our national debt to a fragile environment, they will need the knowledge, skills and judgment that are built from a strong educational foundation.
Our generation’s legacy to them should not be the problems we have passed on, but the solutions we have created and the investments we have made in their future. The Week of the Young Child is an opportunity to enhance this resolve.
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