SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Social practices and cultural beliefs of modern life are preventing healthy brain and emotional development in children, according to an interdisciplinary body of research presented recently at a symposium at the University of Notre Dame.
...
"Breast-feeding infants, responsiveness to crying, almost constant touch and having multiple adult caregivers are some of the nurturing ancestral parenting practices that are shown to positively impact the developing brain, which not only shapes personality, but also helps physical health and moral development," says Narvaez.Studies show that responding to a baby's needs (not letting a baby "cry it out") has been shown to influence the development of conscience; positive touch affects stress reactivity, impulse control and empathy; free play in nature influences social capacities and aggression; and a set of supportive caregivers (beyond the mother alone) predicts IQ and ego resilience as well as empathy.
The United States has been on a downward trajectory on all of these care characteristics, according to Narvaez. Instead of being held, infants spend much more time in carriers, car seats and strollers than they did in the past. Only about 15 percent of mothers are breast-feeding at all by 12 months, extended families are broken up and free play allowed by parents has decreased dramatically since 1970.
On the other side, there's hand-wringing about helicopter parenting.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Friday August 21 2015, @07:21PM
It's not all selfishness. Is it a "wanna have it all" life to want a career to return to when the kids are in school? Because people who take years off to raise their young children often can't get jobs anymore because of the hole in their resumes.
Not only that, but most families need both parents working just to pay the bills.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Sunday August 23 2015, @01:30PM
> most families need both parents working just to pay the bills.
You can thank ~40% tax rates for that. The whole liberal push to get moms out of the kitchen and into the "equal" workforce was so they could dial up the tax take.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday August 23 2015, @06:27PM
You can thank ~40% tax rates for that. The whole liberal push to get moms out of the kitchen and into the "equal" workforce was so they could dial up the tax take.
You'll have to come up with a better conservative fantasy/conspiracy than that. The tax rate was much higher in days when it was rare for both parents to be working.