The Crucial Early Years

A disturbing new report dramatizes the perils facing American children under three -- and calls for action

Anyone who has raised a child from birth knows firsthand how defenseless a newborn baby can be. No other animal is so helpless for so long -- so dependent on adults for food, shelter, attention, instruction and a nurturing environment in which to develop and grow. Scientists have learned that babies subjected to repeated trauma or stress or left unattended for too long may suffer neurological effects that can, in extreme cases, be irreversible. But as a society, the U.S. seems to have forgotten the needs of its youngest children. Of the 12 million American babies and toddlers under age three,...

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