Day Care Centers:

                                                                

The cost of living has gone up necessitating both parents to work and the girl child has been given equal opportunities in education and employment, which gives her the chance to earn a living.  This has resulted in more and more mothers having careers that have pushed them out of homes and denying them the time required for caring for their children (Barber, 2000, p.106). This has resulted in children in modern society being left under the care of nannies also referred to as house helps and alternatively, under the care of day care centers. Whether day care centers are giving our kids the attention we need is debatable.

Are day cares giving our kids the attention we need?

In order for a child to grow and in their latter life to become a responsible, reliable, honest, emotionally stable and a morally upright adult, much attention, affection and care is required in their early years (Hershfield, 1997, p.1). The required attention, affection and care for bringing up children are best offered by a secure environment such as a good home and from reliable and dependable people such as parents as noted by Hershfield, (1997, p.69). Since receiving care at home and by parents is difficult owing to the aforementioned factors, day care centers are trusted and relied on to provide children under their care with  the attention, affection and care. There are a significant number of day care centers that have been successful in giving kids under their care the attention required to ensure holistic development and growth of the children.

These day-cares have been effective and efficient in facilitating the required all-round growth and development, by offering day care services that offer attention needed to meet the needs of each child based on their stage of development (Gruber, et al., 1994, p.85). This entails attention that facilitates and enhances a child’s motor development through play, physical development through proper feeding, sleep, safe environment and hygiene, emotional development, mental development and language development (Barber, 2000, p.108). In addition, sensory development, where children are offered services that enhances their senses so that they are able to successfully see and look, hear and listen, feel and touch, taste and smell. This has been possible within day care centers that employ professionals in child care.

Be it as it may, there are day care centers that have been incapable of giving our kids the attention we need, by failing to ensure continuity of care, failing to meet the specific needs of children particularly autistic children and special needs children, and failing to ensure that children are at all times safe and secure due to limited time and resources (Barber, 2000, p.106). This has resulted in children receiving less than quality care enhancing the risks for accidents, infections and the risk of failing to facilitate the overall growth and development of children. This is not to say that day care centers are to blame for the negative impact they have on children as supported by Barber, (2000, p.106). Parents are as much to blame for failing to aggressively research, screen the type of day care centers they enroll their children and at worse, failing to monitor what their children are exposed to outside the homes.

Conclusion

There are day -care centers that are equipped to ensure children left under their care are able to receive the attention required, which is integral for the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social development of children. Nevertheless, there are day cares that are limited in offering the attention. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the parent to research and enroll their children in day-cares that offer continuous quality child care.