Any parent who has felt guilty about putting their child in a nursery or felt under pressure to sign them up for baby music classes to give them a head start in life will note with interest the opening of a conference at the University of Kent this week. The event will look at what organisers call "the extreme focus on early childhood".
Academics will argue that parents of babies and toddlers – especially mothers – are subject to ridiculous levels of pressure to "get things right" that leads to "unwarranted anxieties and guilt".
Led by John Bruer, author of The Myth of the First Three Years, they say the neuroscience backing claims of the importance of parental connection in the early years has been hyped and that social policy focusing on the parent-child bond is "a waste of resources".
What do you think about the findings? Have you ever felt guilty for putting your child in nursery? Have you felt pressure for them to take 'the right' classes? Have your say in our discussion of the day...
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