Nasty, Brutish, and Short

CONTEMPORARY culture values sensitivity and softness, the “nice” virtues, above almost all else: except, we have now learned, when it comes to one particular segment of the population. These are preschoolers who spend more than thirty hours a week in day care. They, it turns out, can possess all the fierceness of William Wallace, and most of the nation’s cultural pooh-bahs will pronounce themselves well pleased. The new appreciation of aggressiveness comes in response to the now-infamous national study finding that long stretches away from a mother’s care tend to make toddlers more aggressive and defiant.

This study, by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports that kids in non-maternal care tend to be associated with qualities such as “gets in lots of fights,” “cruelty,” “explosive behavior,” “talking too much,” “argues a lot,” and “demands a lot of attention.” Time magazine, reflecting the line taken by many liberal commentators, responded this way: “Should we even be worried at all? The researchers noted that almost all the ‘aggressive’ toddlers were well within the range of normal behavior for four-year-olds. And what about that adjective, anyway? Is a vice not sometimes a form of virtue? Cruelty never is, but arguing back? Is that being defiant—or spunky and independent? ‘Demanding attention’ could be a natural and healthy skill to develop if you are in a room with 16 other kids.” And getting in fights? Explosive behavior?

About the Author

Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review.

CONTEMPORARY culture values sensitivity and softness, the “nice” virtues, above almost all else: except, we have now learned, when it comes to one particular segment of the population. These are preschoolers who spend more than thirty hours a week in day care. They, it turns out, can possess all the fierceness of William Wallace, and most of the nation’s cultural pooh-bahs will pronounce themselves well pleased. The new appreciation of aggressiveness comes in response to the now-infamous national study finding that long stretches away from a mother’s care tend to make toddlers more aggressive and defiant.

This study, by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports that kids in non-maternal care tend to be associated with qualities such as “gets in lots of fights,” “cruelty,” “explosive behavior,” “talking too much,” “argues a lot,” and “demands a lot of attention.” Time magazine, reflecting the line taken by many liberal commentators, responded this way: “Should we even be worried at all? The researchers noted that almost all the ‘aggressive’ toddlers were well within the range of normal behavior for four-year-olds. And what about that adjective, anyway? Is a vice not sometimes a form of virtue? Cruelty never is, but arguing back? Is that being defiant—or spunky and independent? ‘Demanding attention’ could be a natural and healthy skill to develop if you are in a room with 16 other kids.” And getting in fights? Explosive behavior?