[Youth-list] Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Are You with Us?

[Elizabeth Shack]

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By Sean Palfrey/ As You Were Saying...
Saturday, July 7, 2007 

As a pediatrician, it is hard not to care about the overall well-being of children. We examine them as infants, weigh them, immunize them, treat ear infections and make recommendations on everything from the proper way for them to sleep to the food they should eat. Caring for the whole child is the primary mission of a pediatrician. 
            Given what we do, it is no wonder that pediatricians across the commonwealth are celebrating Gov. Deval Patrick’s call to reform our education system and provide access to high-quality pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten to all Massachusetts children. This is not just good politics; it is good public policy that builds on the Legislature’s progress in the area of early education. 
            The neurodevelopment of infants is concentrated in the first five years of life. 
            A fetus starts out as a tiny collection of similar cells and in nine months becomes a breathing, crying, feeding, interacting, semi-independent individual with a personality and a mind of her own. 
            Then, over the next year and a half, she becomes a walking, talking, getting into trouble and “manipulating her parents and the rest of the world” being. She learns words every day, how to get what she wants, and the limits of acceptable behavior. 
            Over the next three years, she must learn to learn, as an individual and in a group. To do so, she must have the knowledge base, the confidence, the skills to remember and use information, and the physical health, to succeed in school. 
             I see families from some of Massachusetts’ poorer communities every day. For the first two years, I see these babies every few months and try to build solid foundations for physical and behavioral health. I attempt to protect infants and children from preventable diseases by vaccinating all of them, helping them through a variety of infectious and nutritional challenges, educating their parents about how to introduce literacy, and encouraging good speech and learning patterns. The goal during this period is to closely monitor both the child’s physical growth and her behavioral and mental development. 
             By the third year though, much of a pediatrician’s attention is focused on the child’s behavior and development - does she know her colors, letters and numbers; can she color and finish a puzzle; does she fight with other children; does she play games of imagination and create stories of her own? 
            Between the second and sixth year of age, every child’s brain is devouring information, learning language many times faster than you or I can now, building self-confidence, or lack of it, and learning patterns of behavior that she will follow for the rest of her life. 
            Studies have shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what a child learns in these first five or six years remains as cornerstones of that child’s strengths and weaknesses. 
            Pediatricians working with school-age and teenage children watch with joy and fear how children do in school, knowing that their success - physically, intellectually and spiritually - depends, in no small part, on their academic success. The children I am most proud of are those who have thrived and succeeded in life and in school, despite the many hardships they have faced. The parents, teachers and pediatricians in their lives have supported and positioned them to succeed from the time of their infancy and to take pride in their achievements. 
             In order to give all children the opportunity that they deserve, we have to work supportively and consistently with them early in life, so that they enter school ready to succeed. 
            High-quality early education is one of the most effective prescriptions Massachusetts pediatricians know of to accomplish this goal. 
            Dr. Sean Palfrey is past president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. We invite our readers to contribute pieces of no more than 600 words. E-mail to oped at bostonherald.com. Submissions are subject to editing and become Herald property. 
             
            


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