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Note #6167 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

25-August-2000
00304

Ready, set, grow

It wouldn't take much to give today's infants a better tomorrow

Commentary by Tom McGrath
Executive editor, "U.S. Catholic"
Reprinted with permission

Editor's note: As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrates "The Year of
the Child," the Presbyterian News Service commends this column. -- Jerry L.
Van Marter

CHICAGO— If you saw a 3-year-old on a tricycle trundling alone toward a busy
intersection, what would you do?
	You'd intervene, right? It would be unconscionable to let that innocent
child continue to drift into harm's way.  And when society discovers that a
product -- such as a defective child's seat or a crib that's prone to
collapse -- is dangerous to infants and toddlers, we go to great lengths to
mobilize and organize to remove the danger.
	So why don't we mobilize and organize to prevent future harm for the
hundreds of thousands of babies who will fail to get the early attention
they need and deserve.
	Recent advances in the study of how children grow and especially how the
human brain develops have opened our eyes to the series of miracles that
take place in a child's earliest days and moments.  Rather than doing
nothing but eating, sleeping and pooping, it turns out that infants are
busier and more productive than even the hardest charging entrepreneur.
	Minute by minute these little Einsteins are observing, absorbing and
building amazing webs of intellectual capacity in their heads. And, when all
goes well, they are loving every minute of it. But too often, and for too
many infants, all does not go well. They lack proper nutrition and medical
care. They don't receive sufficient eye contact and cooing or gentle
stimulation from parents and others. Their environment is short on
tenderness and long on trauma. And maybe they fail to receive expressions of
sheer delight that they have arrived in this world. Such deprivation has
lifelong implications.
	"There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the
future in," writes Graham Greene in "The Power and the Glory." In fact,
there is a series of such moments when a child acquires the hardwiring that
makes possible future achievements and skills, that enables them to play
Mozart or perform mathematical computations, to paint a picture or hit a
baseball, to love and believe in their tiny little selves. These moments are
priceless and they are passing. The door opens, and the door also solidly
shuts.
	This finitude makes child development a matter of justice and therefore a
matter of concern for both the government and the church. When children are
deprived of the nurturing they need and deserve at an early age, their
ability to compete and participate in a knowledge-based economy diminishes.
Current research indicates (and widespread experience bears out) that if
children miss these early opportunities, no amount of catch-up or extra
effort or pulling ones's self up by the bootstraps is going to help a child
come from behind. The pursuit of happiness becomes more cumbersome when
you're wearing lead shoes.
	The great news is that we're learning more about these moments and how to
nurture the environment and enhance the child's development. The question
is: Do we have the political and moral will to mobilize? Child-development
professionals predict the U.S. would save billions on prisons and remedial
education if it invested a little more money in children before they showed
up on the radar as problem adolescents. And, as with your 401K, the earlier
the investments, the better.
	Certain initiatives seem particularly worth funding and expanding: early
education experiences tailored to kids' ages and cultures, enhanced day-care
that not only houses kids but tends to their developmental needs, and
widespread availability of effective drug abuse treatment for troubled
parents.
	We would also realize a great return on investment from coaching and
mentoring parents of newborns. Why not draw on the top creative geniuses and
pay them well to concoct ways to get the message to the folks who would
benefit from it the most? Advertisers spend gobs of money in poor
neighborhoods to sell cigarettes, the lottery and malt liquor. Couldn't we
use what they know to promote cuddling, cooing and regular medical checkups
for infants? Why not music videos on the importance of eye contact with your
baby? Or a 30-second spot on "Ricki Lake" explaining that a child's cries
mean she's hungry and not that she's rejecting you?
	Parishes can incorporate clear, concise information about early-childhood
development in marriage and baptismal preparation sessions, and offer
parenting classes and organize mentors for new parents.
	We know what the problem is. We know what can cure it.  Does anyone know
why we don't do it?

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