BC Council for Families

By Dana Brynelsen

Our childhood experiences determine how each of us express our unique potential

The past several years have seen an explosion of interest in child development and the role of the environment in the early years. The media attention to this topic is significant.

Both Newsweek and Time have had special editions devoted to infants and young children. Local newspapers carry numerous articles, some focusing on the adverse consequences of poverty on the young developing child, others on what we believe to be important contributors to healthy development.

Recent links have been established that indicate our national economic growth is tied to the health of our youngest citizens. Business leaders are now joining government policy makers, researchers, community leaders and parents in pressing for more resources to encourage early development. Young children are in the spotlight.

Development:  Both Nature and Nuture

It has long been accepted that both nature, our genetic makeup and constitution, and nurture, our physical and social environment, transact in complex ways to influence our development. We are each born with an individual biologic potential. The degree to which this will be expressed depends in part on our childhood experiences.

Controversies, however, exist as to which contributes most to our eventual outcome, to what degree and in which ways. As a society, we tend to lean in one direction or another depending on the research interests of the day and other social forces. Today we do have new research that gives us knowledge to alter downward trajectories for some young children and growing social concern for those children whose futures are severely compromised by poverty and lack of opportunity. We have been here before.

Trends and History

In my career, which now spans five decades, I've seen interest in young children come and go, albeit with nothing of the magnitude of today's interest. In the sixties (which I do remember) Hunt challenged the notion that intelligence was "fixed" and he and others argued that the environment of the child in the early years could have significant impact on later intellectual functioning.

His work converged with other researchers who studied the outcomes of children raised in the extremely deprived environments of orphanages and institutions and with animal studies that compared animal outcomes from enriched versus deprived environments. Believing in a connection between mild mental handicap and poverty and that mild mental handicap could be "cured" by providing enriched environments, the American government began a war on poverty and implemented the first of the Head Start programs in 1965.

These early childhood programs (initially summer programs) provided children of low income families with an intensified curriculum in the form of "a middle class experience". The intent of these early intervention preschool programs was to raise the IQ scores and performance levels of children living in severely deprived communities to prepare them for the school experience. These programs and other early education research initiatives met with modest success but early promises that short term environmental manipulations could "cure" mental handicap and have a significant and lasting impact on intellectual development were not met.

The early '80s brought another wave of interest in nurture and the role of experience in early human development, particularly for middle class families, and Super Baby programs emerged with promises to parents that "all babies are potential geniuses". Flashcards and early reading kits became the rage for some families who had the financial resources, time and interest to invest in this. This era was filled with publications such as Doman's Teach Your Baby Math, Engelmans' Give Your Child a Superior Mind and Ludington-Hoe's How to Have a Smarter Baby. Researchers expressed concerns that these "pressure cooker" approaches to child development could do more harm than good, and this too passed.

Today:  Battling poverty

Today's interest is heightened in part by new longitudinal research that links early childhood experiences to later adult outcomes. Lives that begin in adversity are more likely to end in adversity. Income inequities and other practices that contribute to poverty place an increasing number of Canadian children at very high risk of adverse outcomes.

Today, one child in five in Canada lives in poverty. Conversely, the opportunities provided by healthy, secure early years increase the odds of continuing to live a longer, healthier and more productive life. We also know much more about what does make a difference for young children and the importance of providing children with nurturing and developmentally encouraging environments right from the start. Our reality in Canada is that many children, particularly those living in poverty, do not reach their full potential in this society because such environments are not consistently available to them.

It is critical to understand that it is what parents do with their children, not their socio-economic status, that determines child outcome. However, it is very difficult to provide developmental support for your child when your rent is unpaid and your child is hungry. The following describes in brief what we mean by nurturing and developmentally encouraging environments and what we need to do to ensure more children have access to them. We will look at this in relation to the child, the family and the community.

The Child

It is important to acknowledge first that child development depends to a very large degree on the child's genetic make up and constitution. There are significant individual differences from child to child. As a friend said to me once: "I thought I was a terrific mother until John was born." Her first-born son was a sweet-natured, easygoing child, a delight to be around, and very easy to parent. Her second son, John, was challenging, very much his own person, and very difficult to parent well.

In our concern about environmental influences on the child, it's easy to overlook or to diminish the impact of heredity, the nature side of the equation. We risk doing a great disservice to children and their parents by ignoring these individual differences. When traits, behaviours or developmental problems in young children are seen as originating from environmental influences alone, we can create unrealistic expectations for change or blame parents for child outcomes rather than offering our understanding and support.

Environmental factors that contribute to child development which are potentially modifiable include the mother's pre- and post-conception health, her nutrition during pregnancy and avoidance of harmful agents such as cigarettes and alcohol, quality prenatal care, strong economic and social supports and freedom from stress and anxiety.

After birth and in the early months and years of a child's life, the quality of the relationships that develop between the infant and the mother, the father and other significant family members is key to healthy growth and development. These loving relationships support the development of the child as a social and communicative being and influence all other aspects of development as well. Parents who are sensitive to the child's cues and who respond consistently in warm and loving ways establish patterns of interaction that positively influence language and cognition. The importance of this earliest nurturing and developmentally encouraging environment within the family context cannot be overestimated.

As children grow and their worlds expand, they need social and physical environments that encourage safe exploration and learning. Such environments are created when parents and other significant adults in the child's life encourage and support child-initiated learning that follows the child's lead and interests. Direct instruction has a place in this environment but is of most benefit when the child is developmentally ready to learn a new skill, has an interest in it, and is positively supported by the parent or caregiver in working toward and attaining the goal. Rich language environments in which infants and young children are interactive partners with parents are also key to early learning.

The traditional language play between parents and children that emphasizes songs, rhymes and stories is very important. Reading to infants and young children should be a part of daily family life. However, there is no research to support the early introduction of academic subjects like reading instruction to young children. In fact, evidence from Europe suggests that children who are first introduced to formal reading instruction at age seven, by age 12 outperform those children who receive formal instruction starting at age four. Of course, there will be some children who are very keen to read at an early age and, like other interests demonstrated by the young child, this should be fostered.

Children with developmental delay or disability and their families need access to the same encouraging environments as all children do. In addition, family-centred special services like Infant Development Programs, Supported Child Care and a range of therapy interventions must be available from the time the delay or disability is detected. Many children at risk also benefit from such special services.

The Family

What do families, in particular parents of young children, need to support healthy child development? Parents need to feel valued and supported in their very challenging role as parents. It is a sad reality in Canada that many parents do not feel valued and this is particularly true for those who struggle with difficult financial circumstances.

 Margaret Mead said that, as a society, we have isolated the nuclear family and expect one or two adults to take on child-rearing roles and responsibilities, including financial, that were once shared by many more people. Friends who travel to countries where young children are valued and where parents have broad community respect and support comment how rarely, if ever, they hear a child cry. When children fuss, eager hands stretch out to nurture and comfort.

What do we offer? An American father visiting here with his young children was refused entry to a hotel dining room and redirected to a cafeteria. He made a Human Rights complaint and was ridiculed in our press for doing this. We don't value young children in our society and they and their parents are ostracized in many social settings. On a more positive note, I recently saw a sign outside a restaurant at the Vancouver Airport that said "Children are Very Welcome Here". We need more signs like that in Canada. Let us remember that parents are "raising the future" for our whole society.

Parents also need access to information that can guide them in making good choices for their children. The recently created Parent Help Line by Invest in Kids is an excellent example of a parent-friendly information service. Family Resource Centres available in many communities in Canada provide a broad range of necessary parenting supports. Too often, however, we do not recognize, let alone acknowledge, the wealth of information parents have about their individual children, their skills in parenting and their successes in providing nurturing and developmentally encouraging experiences for their children, often in the face of significant obstacles. These tremendous accomplishments need to be celebrated!

Carl Dunst, a well known researcher in child development, has recently started a project called The Power of the Ordinary. He states: "Everyday child life is made up of ordinary but powerful family and community experiences. The many good things parents and families do each and every day with their children often go unrecognized despite their importance for growth and learning." His project staff are travelling throughout North America videotaping and photographing the ordinary but powerful experiences making up the fabric of everyday child life.

Parents need time and energy to devote to young children. We live in a society where both are in short supply. Employment demands, schooling or struggling to make ends meet on a limited income can drain parental capacity. A range of other nurturing and developmentally encouraging learning environments that are community-based are needed to enhance parental efforts. All parents need such supports. However, community-based efforts are of particular importance for families who struggle with poverty. Until we address fundamental inequities in our society, children who live in poverty must have preferential access to community services. Increasingly, however, these services are available only to those families with significant financial resources and the children and families who need them most do not get them.

The Community

Our "communities", however we define them, have a huge role in providing young children with nurturing and developmentally encouraging environments. Beyond a welcoming attitude (and one sign to date is not enough), how well parents do in their parenting role depends to a large degree on community supports available to them. Caring for young children can be very isolating unless communities work to connect families with supports. Neighbours, extended family, friends, shopkeepers, and librarians B all have a potential role to play in supporting the young family. Parent-Child Mother Goose is an excellent example of a community activity that fosters close relationships between parents and reduces the stresses of parenting on your own.

Starting with pregnancy, workplace demands can impact significantly on child outcome. France reduced low birth weights, associated with adverse developmental outcomes for some young children, by 50% when they introduced paid pregnancy leave for women in stressful or physically demanding jobs. Child outcomes are also adversely affected by workplace stresses that create tensions for parents between home and work responsibilities. Some employers have developed innovative strategies to support staff in their child rearing capacity and research shows benefits to both the employer as well as to the child. Most have not, however, and some employers bitterly resent any time their staff take away from work to care for their children. This must change.

We need a range of full and part-time quality child care options available to support working parents, at home parents, and students. High quality child care, particularly for children whose parents cannot provide them with consistently nurturing and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities is also a critical component of necessary community support. For some children at significant risk for school failure, high quality child care is considered by many to be the single most important factor necessary to alter developmental outcomes. In most of Europe, child care is seen as a national and community responsibility, and in many countries all children are entitled to these services. However, in some European countries children living in poverty or in high risk communities are eligible to attend special child care settings which have smaller class sizes, more play materials, and well paid, specially trained teachers who have access to expert support.

When parents are not able to provide enough developmental support to ensure their young children are getting what they need, the community is there to offer these enriched services. As a result, many more children are better prepared at school entry and, in the long term, there are substantial economic benefits for the countries providing these early learning opportunities. Unfortunately, research in Canada reveals the reverse experience for young Canadian children. Enriched environments are almost exclusively available to those children whose families can pay high fees for them. Although there are some stunning exceptions, the child at risk is typically served by poorly trained and poorly paid staff in crowded centres or is not in a child care setting at all.

Communities also offer a host of other learning opportunities for young children but these too are often not accessible to the families who need them most. A parent was recently quoted as saying, "What I need is a bus pass; what I get is a parenting program I don't need and can't get to anyway." Other community services run by municipal parks and recreation departments tend to cater to families with older children or adults.

Our little park down the street has a wonderful pool for children from infancy up to middle childhood. Many families come in July and August, the only months it is open. They would come in June and September as well but our Parks Board policy supports longer pool hours only for pools adults or tourists use, not pools that attract families with young children. In addition to signage, we need government policies that shift existing resources so that our youngest community members and their families can get their fair share. Initiatives such as the Child and Youth Friendly Communities sponsored by the Society for Children and Youth of BC need our support.

In closing, I would like to quote from the late Dr. Paul Steinhauer, a wonderful Canadian advocate for children, who said while in Vancouver: "In Canada, we view children as the possessions of their parents; in Europe, they are seen as the future." Here's to our future! Let's make a difference for Canada's children and start making the changes needed to ensure all our children get the best possible start in life.

Dana Brynelsen has been the Provincial Advisor for the Infant Development Programs of BC since 1975. She serves on a number of provincial and national committees focusing on early intervention and child and youth care, and recently advised on Canada's compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 23) for the Canadian Coalition on the Rights of Children. Dana has a particular interest in family-centred care and supporting families in their efforts to raise their children.

This article first appeared in Family Connections (Fall 2000), published by the BC Council for Families.