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Institutionalized group
child care defies eons of evolution.
Caring for our young by unrelated
adults in a group setting such as day-care puts our species on a par with
lower animals such as termites and other
social insects.
In contrast, humans are
primates, and primates' infants cling to them...that is the way we are wired
for development.
Do other
primates (chimps, gorillas, etc.) have unrelated strangers care for their
young?1
No, they do not!
"...a chimpanzee mother will surrender her infant to the care of another
(related) female only as a favor to that female, and (only) for a brief
period."2
1
Concept and chimpanzee animation from "What's Wrong With
Infant and Toddler Day care?" by Jasto
2 Excerpt from Early Childcare: Infants and
Nations at Risk, by Dr. Peter Cook, June 1997, Chapter 1, page 27
The intimate bond shared between the human Mother and her Child is a result
of millennia of human development. This is so deeply ingrained in our collective human psyche
that the image of a 'mother
and child' is not
only the subject of many great works of art, but is also a part of one of the world's
major religions.
How many great works of art, classic or contemporary, depict a 'daycare
worker with children'?
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Madonna and Child with Angels
ca. 1460; Benozzo Gozzoli (Italian, 1420-97) |
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Click here for an overview of daycare's
origins. ~
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