Thank you Sarah for your comments. You are, sadly, so right. I only hope that politicians will start to look at science as opposed to firmly held and strongly expressed beliefs that 'obviously are right' - but actually have been shown again and again to be, at best, ineffective and, at worst, to exacerbate the problem.
There is only one thing that I would add to your conclusions: we are reaping the effects of cuts to services to preschoolers made a decade ago. Children learn how to regulate affect and how to empathise even before they enter school. Their vocabulary before school determines how well they will be able to use their education and how well they will be able to talk things through and negotiate, rather than lashing out. The cost benefits of preschool education in the USA have been calculated as a return over over 2 dollars for every one spent - and their social services are meagre so we probably would save even more in the long run.
A punitive approach is a waste of our most valuable resource - our children, as well as a waste of money, time and effort.
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There is only one thing that I would add to your conclusions: we are reaping the effects of cuts to services to preschoolers made a decade ago. Children learn how to regulate affect and how to empathise even before they enter school. Their vocabulary before school determines how well they will be able to use their education and how well they will be able to talk things through and negotiate, rather than lashing out. The cost benefits of preschool education in the USA have been calculated as a return over over 2 dollars for every one spent - and their social services are meagre so we probably would save even more in the long run.
A punitive approach is a waste of our most valuable resource - our children, as well as a waste of money, time and effort.