What About The Children?

8 Pages 1941 Words

What About The Children?
Before the late nineteenth century child care was not popular, although it had been created decades before in some towns. Child care was introduced for many different reasons. Originally child care was thought of as a place that provided a healthy environment for children while parents were at work. Child care is now defined as a safe learning environment for children. Researchers focus on the cognitive and gross motor development of children. There are many arguments that child care is not an appropriate place for children to be raised. Child care has evolved to become a safe learning environment for children.
It is important to understand the history of child care in order to understand how it has evolved. Before eighteen hundred child care did not exist in America. In many homes children were raised by their mother while their fathers went to work. In families where there was no father, mainly because of death, the children were left alone while the mother went to work. In the 1880’s and 1890’s child care became more popular (Steinfels 37). The primary reason was “Industrialization, urbanization, and immigration created a node of social problems that, among other circumstances, resulted in the disruption of what most Americans considered normal family life”(Steinfels 37). Industrialization was opening up many opportunities for women to obtain jobs. Many immigrants were fleeing to America at this time that also brought poverty and children being left alone since both parents were needed to work. This part of history was a very prevalent step in the evolution of child care.
Another moment in history was during and after World War I. “Through the war years and beyond there continued a fitful effort at formulating some kind of public policy toward day care as well as an effort at self regulation” (Steinfels 57). The public was now scrutinizing day cares. Social worker...