Comment 39995

By d.knox (registered) | Posted April 20, 2010 at 19:33:53

I agree, Meredith. I shop at both Tisdale and the jail Food Basics, and see the same things. Comparing the contents of shopping carts to mine is like visiting a different country. But listening to the caring class wring their hands about how anyone can possibly make it through the day without a Starbucks and a massage is even more off-putting than seeing obese people piling bags of chips and bottles of pop in their buggies.

I recently had a discussion with a well-regarded child psychology researcher who finally conceded that the reason we needed to introduce universal daycare and all-day junior kindergarten was to get these kids away from the parents who aren't very good parents and are doing a lousy job.

Children from middle and upper income households don't benefit from early daycare - they hit the milestones at the same time, whether they are in daycare or not. Children from social assistance households exhibit marked differences in milestone achievement - they hit the milestones earlier if they are in daycare than if they're at home with their parent(s).

I don't know what the solution is. We don't seem to be doing a good job of fixing the problem. But I resent the whitewash job. When the Spec writes articles on how it's dreadful that the city is considering a smoking ban inside public housing, and at the same time tells us these people can't feed themselves, I have a hard time feeling anything but indifference. I choose to spend my extra money on my mortgage and so I don't take a vacation. They chose to spend their money on cigarettes and so they go hungry. We all make choices.

Comment edited by d.knox on 2010-04-20 18:35:24

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