Reply to DC now requiring day care workers to have college degrees

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the college requirement is great, but I also think mothers should consider taking six months to a year off from work at a minimum to be home with their baby rather than put them in day care. The longer kids stay at home, the better.  We need to value caregiving as much as we value working outside the home. Making a college degree a requirement is a step in the right direction.[/quote]

+1, absolutely. Totally worthwhile.

All I keep reading in this is "it'll cost too much, it'll cost too much".... criminy, what are your children worth, then? [/quote]

I disagree.  The reason most people oppose this is because a college degree simply isn't necessary or maybe even worthwhile for a childcare provider to perform their job. Infants don't even talk.  Why is a college degree now necessary to feed, soothe and play with an infant?  I really don't see how having a college degree with improve the care your children receive.  I'd rather the government make the law stricter around number of infants per childcare provider.

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They aren't just soothing and feeding. With kids spending 40-50+ hours a week with child care providers, those individuals are playing key roles (and in some case the primary role) in that child's social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral and moral growth and development. With each interaction and response, they are shaping this child's development. I think it should be essential that they do have an informed understanding of child development since that is a key aspect of their job responsibilities. A degree also means there has been research, critical thinking, analysis - all important to being able to making decisions in the moment that are critical to what a child is learning about themselves, others and the world around them. [/quote]

Then all SAHM must have a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education, right?[/quote]

We can't control what a parent does or doesn't know or do - working parent or stay at home parent. But if it is someone's employment and they are being paid to do a job then it can be an expectation by legislative bodies or employers that they have the knowledge and training to do it.

You can do whatever DIY repairs you want at home but if you hire an electrician then it is fine for licensing bodies or employing companies to expect that the person would have had training and education related to their current job skills and responsibilities.

You can still go out and hire any random person to take care of your kids if you want to.[/quote]

So is your issue that you think you need a degree to raise a child but the state can't mandate parents have degrees or are you willing to acknowledge that you don't actually need a degree and that people without degrees are not random people.  The options aren't a provider with a college degree or hand your child to the first person you see on the street corner.

I agree with the PP who mentioned a training program (frankly I assume there was one already) to make sure everyone has the proper training.  
BTW training and schooling  can only teach certain things. As clearly demonstrated by this thread a degree doesn't teach compassion or common sense.  Both of which I want to a child care provider.
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No, I don't think you need a degree to raise a child. Lots of grandparents do an amazing job of providing free childcare. By random - I meant some person who want in your home raising your kids - you can choose a grandparent, a parent, a neighbor, a friend. You can still pick anyone you want. If you are the direct employer, you don't need to have any standard for who you hire or have in your home to do a task.

Many people with no background in education or any training or education homeschool their kids and their kids do just fine - that doesn't mean that I don't think hired teachers don't need any education or training - even though parents can do it without training.

If as an employer I am going to hire and employ people whose main job responsibility is child development then I want them to have the background and knowledge and training to do that well, in addition to being a kind, caring person. If I am the legislative body who has accountability and answers for the actions of what child care providers do, then I want to know that those people have the knowledge and training to do the job they do.

Fields evolve and change. Years ago, nurses really had no formal training - they were caring individuals who shadowed other nurses and learned as they went. Yet few people now would be okay with a nurse with no education or training in nursing and no employer would hire a nurse whose only credentials were being a really nice caring person. Nurses still do tasks that could be done by someone with no training (bringing water or pillows) but there was recognition decades ago, that education and training would be an asset and the field evolved to be far more highly skilled.

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