Womb to Tomb Care

[shadeaux]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7819870

Lyric  (1000+ posts)        Mon Mar-01-10 03:03 PM
Original message

Should we expand the public school system to accommodate children of all ages?

 It's something to consider. The lack of available childcare is THE most common reason that low-income parents have such a hard time getting jobs (lack of reliable transportation is second.) But seriously--can we have this conversation? God knows it would provide a desperately-needed service to working parents of all ages. If childcare were guaranteed by the public school system, employers would have the benefit of a vastly-increased pool of available workers, not to mention that some of them would be able to get rid of their private childcare centers, thus reducing costs. Parents would have their financial woes eased. Single people without kids would have to put up with other peoples' kids less often, because nobody would have to bring their kids to work or to lunch because the babysitter called off. And the children themselves would have the opportunity to be socialized early on in an educational environment.

This would make an ENORMOUS difference for poor and lower-middle-class parents. They'd have many more opportunities for jobs, job training, and even college, all of which are severely limited when people can't afford childcare. All too often these people are forced to leave their kids with strangers from newspaper ads or untrained teenagers from down the street, because those are the only options they can afford, and quitting their job simply is NOT a survivable possibility. Offering safe, background-checked childcare providers, for free, in a government-run school environment, on a regular schedule, could LITERALLY save the lives of small children who'd have otherwise been subject to some untrained teenager's negligence or some sneaky pedophile's babysitting spiderweb.

The one big difference between regular K-12 and an expanded system would have to be the idea of mandatory attendance. Some people prefer to stay home with their kids, or to let Grandma babysit, or maybe Mom is nursing full-time and needs the baby to stay home with her, and that's fine--attendance should not be mandatory for any child under kindergarten age. But for those parents who'd otherwise be leaving their kids with whatever teenage babysitter or shady daycare is cheap enough to afford, this could literally be a lifesaver.

I also wouldn't worry much about the effect of "government competition" on the private daycare industry, because there will always be a need for private daycare--mostly for parents who don't want their kids attending the public one, and who can afford the cost of a private alternative. Sure, the daycare facilities that are of cheaper, lesser quality will probably go under, but so long as there's an adequate public alternative, are we really going to decry the loss of the BAD daycare centers? If those people are qualified, they can always apply for jobs in the public sector, and if not, then they probably shouldn't have been working in daycare to begin with.

Sure, the socially-conservative Repukes would hate it (because they're reactionaries who hate anything that eeeeevil liberals support), but I don't think that the corporatists would necessarily hate it. Even THEY can see that increased worker reliability and productivity would be a good thing for everyone involved.

One final point I'd like to bring up is early childhood nutrition. Quite often, the children of poor parents don't get the kind of balanced nutrition they need--at least not until they're old enough to eat at school. Wouldn't it be an incredible public good to provide at least one or two solidly nutritious meals to every poor child in America, every weekday, nationwide? I grew up dirt-poor, and school breakfast and lunch were THE best meals of my day, by far, for years. Why should a poor infant or toddler have to make do with less-nutritious meals than their 6-year-old sibling gets at school? School lunches are not the most perfect meals ever, but they're a heck of a lot better than what many of these kids would otherwise get.

And to top it all off--the infrastructure for this is already in place! We'd need to make some adjustments for dealing with babies, but otherwise, we already HAVE this system. The Head Start and Early Head Start programs are already there for dealing with toddlers. If we can't find a way to make it work with babies under a year old, then at LEAST expand it to accommodate toddlers from ages 1-4.

So what do you think? Should there be an expansion of the public school system to provide OPTIONAL free childcare and early education for all children, from birth, guaranteed? What are the pros and cons that you see?
 

Coming from her I am not surprised.

naaman fletcher (1000+ posts)      Mon Mar-01-10 03:33 PM
Response to Original message

1. The difficulty..

 Is that while I believe in the public school system, at a certain point too much schooling results in "the state" in essence raising children instead of parents. That can lead to bad things...

Ya think ?   

The2ndWheel  (1000+ posts)        Mon Mar-01-10 03:50 PM
Response to Original message

4. Just cut the middleman out of the equation

 No more private parents. Go with a Universal Parents type of system, like Universal Health Care.

Leave the parenting to professionals, and that would allow every adult in society to do what they wish to do. There would be no parent/child relationship outside of a federal institution. The children are raised in an equal setting, no more worries about economic class or anything. No more parent/teacher conflicts, as there are no parents. The adults of society exist in the adult world. They go to work, go out, do all the things they do today, just without the financial burden of a child. Children are raised in a professional environment, so that they can become functioning future members of adult society, with no interfering variables. Such as not-so-great-parents, little money, unstable home life, etc.

You could give each adult in society today the choice of taking a $1 million payment to not have children, give some samples to the various clinics for when the states needs more children, and it would be cheaper than any bailout to date. Just get rid of the middleman.

That's a joke right ?  RIGHT ?

Hello_Kitty  (1000+ posts)        Mon Mar-01-10 03:57 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. I do like the $1 million to not have children. I'll take it! 
 

You're too old.

izzybeans  (1000+ posts)        Mon Mar-01-10 04:20 PM
Response to Original message

7. I think a generous family-leave plan for 1 year after birth
 for both mom and dad plus a more comprehensive early childhood education system is looooong over due.

But alas we are too worried about gov't handouts to military contractors operating our bloated overseas bases to give a rip about our children at home.
 

Just when you think you've read it all from that crazy site this shows up.

Good Lawd.  Why have any children if you want someone else to raise them ?

That Lyric never met a government handout she didn't like.  She needs to stop pretending she's this super intellectual/writer/ poetess and take care of her kid. She constantly reminds everyone how poor she is, was, will be. The perpetual victim with the perpetual sob story.

[Chris]

The one big difference between regular K-12 and an expanded system would have to be the idea of mandatory attendance.
...
I also wouldn't worry much about the effect of "government competition" on the private daycare industry, because there will always be a need for private daycare--mostly for parents who don't want their kids attending the public one, and who can afford the cost of a private alternative.

Do these people read what they type?

[GOBUCKS]

How about paid parental leave for 18 years after the birth of a child? You may not think that's possible, but it has been normal procedure in the inner city for several generations now. In fact, the paid leave often begins years before the kid is born I think they have proven that it doesn't do a very good job raising kids. It takes a village.

[chitownchica]

Good lord these people are crazy.  I was a teacher eons ago (lasted 5 years and never looked back).  Teachers don't want to be damn babysitters!

[PatriotGame]

Lyric  (1000+ posts)        Mon Mar-01-10 03:03 PM
Original message

Should we expand the public school system to accommodate children of all ages?

Good fracking lord!
Aren't you the same nutcases that just ripped each other up over NOT being the end-all mother's teat to the children:

proud2BlibKansan  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Wed Mar-03-10 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #47
54. Bullshit
   
If they don't have the time they have no business being a parent in the first place. It is not the school's responsibility to raise your kids.

Oh the irony!
But Bunny's have fangs!

Quote
Bunny  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Wed Mar-03-10 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #54
56. Oh bullshit your own damn self.
   
I would NEVER want someone like you raising my kids, so you can just jump the **** down from that high horse. I do expect you to educate them, however. You ARE being paid to do this, aren't you? If you are unable to perform your job, you have no business doing it and should leave the field and find more suitable work.

http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,41413.0.html

Make up your fracking minds you DUmbasses.

[Chris_]

I guess when they talk about the poor they are generally speaking of all the single mothers out there. Perhaps if they had a husband at home they wouldn't have all these problems.

[JohnnyReb]

The womb is also the tomb for a lot of DUmmie babies.

[MrsSmith]

It would be much better to have babies in the public school system from birth onward because we've proven that the public school system is far safer than homes or daycares. 

Except for sexual predators as teachers...and violence from older kids...and mass shootings...

   We call them DUmmies for a reason...

[USA4ME]

Good find.  Hard to find a better example of a thread where they fully demonstrate they want to coast through life and have gov't tell them what to do and when to do it.

.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Good Lawd.  Why have any children if you want someone else to raise them ?

Well, they will get those nifty red kerchiefs, and participate in all sorts of fun group activities like parades and poster-making...

[The Village Idiot]

I guess when they talk about the poor they are generally speaking of all the single mothers out there. Perhaps if they had a husband at home they wouldn't have all these problems.

Yes, but the DUmmie men are usually.... erm.. never mind

[Karin]

The entire OP was a progressive's wet dream.  My God, can you say indoctrination?

Speaking of indoctrination, can someone's memory help me out here?  Remember back in the August town halls, there was a popular YouTube bit.  It was a Marine dad railing against some congresscreep who had been quoted as saying "indoctrinate the kids."  He said he didn't say it, then he said he was sorry, then he admitted to saying it.  The Marine dad yelled at the guy "KEEP AWAY FROM MY KIDS!" 
Who was the congresscreep?  I loved it, it made the creep look like pedophile. 

[ConservativeMobster]

The entire OP was a progressive's wet dream.  My God, can you say indoctrination?

Speaking of indoctrination, can someone's memory help me out here?  Remember back in the August town halls, there was a popular YouTube bit.  It was a Marine dad railing against some congresscreep who had been quoted as saying "indoctrinate the kids."  He said he didn't say it, then he said he was sorry, then he admitted to saying it.  The Marine dad yelled at the guy "KEEP AWAY FROM MY KIDS!" 
Who was the congresscreep?  I loved it, it made the creep look like pedophile. 

I've forgotten the Marine's name, but he WAS at the DC rally on 9/12. Several of the more notable faces from the townhalls were "grandstand" hopping throught the crowds. Awesome, just awesome!

[thundley4]

Didn't Lord Zero want to start kids into the public education system earlier?  I thought that he said that during his pre election campaign. Government run preschools?

[crockspot]

I wonder how many day care operators would be put out of work by this plan?

[The Village Idiot]

I wonder how many day care operators would be put out of work by this plan?

In Michigan 40,000 day care center owners were forced to join a union; AFSCME; and pay more than 1% to it. They will never get any benefits from it.

[Karin]

It was Brian Baird, of Washington state.  I dropped him a little lovenote.  

[thundley4]

In Michigan 40,000 day care center owners were forced to join a union; AFSCME; and pay more than 1% to it. They will never get any benefits from it.

Not just day care centers , but even those who were licensed to provide care in their homes. Pretty much anyone that baby sits kids from more than one family was forced to join by the way I read it.

[The Village Idiot]

Not just day care centers , but even those who were licensed to provide care in their homes. Pretty much anyone that baby sits kids from more than one family was forced to join by the way I read it.

There should be no way for the government to FORCE you to give money to another organization without your consent like that.

[kenth]

These people really do believe the government will make them rich, take away their burdens (children  ) and let them never work again. Universal parents. What kind of response can you really give such a person except to try to literally slap some sense into them?

[JohnnyReb]

These people really do believe the government will make them rich, take away their burdens (children  ) and let them never work again. Universal parents. What kind of response can you really give such a person except to try to literally slap some sense into them?

They club baby seals, hell, we should be clubbing DUmmie sperm and eggs before they leave the factory.

[LC EFA]

These people must think they will be the alpha prime's in the Brave New World.

Bokanovsky's Babies indeed.