I wish it were a Eureka moment.
But it is not. I will have to call it a “Duh!” moment.
The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a new policy statement recently. This advises pediatric providers to tell parents of young children that reading aloud to them can strengthen language skills, literacy development and parent-child relationships
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Wow! What an earth-shattering discovery! That a parent who reads to his or her child will develop a strong bond with that child. And the child with the parent.
We seem to specialize in re-stating the obvious. Time spent with the child is invaluable. Speaking to the child is invaluable. Human societies have been doing this for centuries.
I’m glad the Pediatrics society has finally recognized it.
A resolution was made at the 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics Leadership Forum. Early literacy development in the pediatric primary care setting should be promoted. This apparently led to the development of the current policy statement. What? It took them only six years? To go from resolution to policy statement?
By the way, I am so happy that the Academy made the resolution to promote literacy development. What were the alternatives they were looking at? To discourage literacy development?
Stories. They are the currency of human culture. That is how values are passed along. That is how traditions are maintained. That is how heroes are born. My grandmother used to sit me beside her, and narrate stories. She could not read or write. She had no formal education. She had no books. But she had a wealth of common sense, folklore and mythology. And also a vivid imagination. Listening to her sweet voice and feeling her comforting presence are among the fondest memories I have of my childhood.
Interestingly, the Academy uses the term “pediatric providers.” We have come a long way, baby! What does an expectant mother ask her relatives and friends? “Could you recommend a nice pediatric provider for my baby?” And when was the last time you heard an announcement on an airplane, “Is there a health care provider on board?”
Now, I have respect for physician assistants and nurse practitioners. But I wish the same courtesy were extended to doctors. I did not go to medical school so that health care plans could send me letters starting, “Dear health care provider.” I am a doctor. Please call me one.
Surveys have found that children in poorer families enjoy the luxury of having a parent read to them much less often than children in richer families. Reading, talking and even singing to children exposes them to words millions of times by age three. This exposure in the first thousand days of life has beneficial consequences throughout the school years.
The gap in the number of words poor kids are exposed to versus rich kids starts to show by age eighteen months. So the goal should be to start reading to children as early as possible. There is some suggestion that even in-utero learning exists, although a very simple kind. Music seems to have a beneficial effect, as does the mother’s voice.
Obviously, one should not go overboard before the baby is born. But parental interaction and reading, starting even at birth, is valuable. We don’t need any academy to tell us that.
Clearly, there are situations where this advice is meaningless because of family, social, environmental and economic circumstances. This is where doctors, nurses, voluntary organizations and the government can assist. Otherwise, the ball is in the court of parents and other family members.
Let us not wait for others to tell us what we should do. The human race has built up enormous experience and wisdom over millennia. Not every act of ours has to be guided by research and evidence-based medicine. There is room for common sense.
Children are important. Let us cherish them, nourish them, read to them, encourage them, motivate them, praise them, spend time with them, even discipline them. And then, maybe, eight or ten years later, some academy will come out with a resolution to that effect.