IPHC GlobalDesk What Children Need

What Children Need But May Not Get
Experts identify seven “irreducible needs” for success.

We now know more about what children need to develop successfully, yet we are providing less of that support than ever before, report pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton and child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan.

If children are to have intelligence and emotional health to lead the world in the future, then parents, teachers, policy makers, and politicians must do a better job in meeting children’s basic needs, Brazelton and Greenspan write in a new book, The Irreducible Needs of Children. Children’s seven irreducible needs, they argue, are:

1. Ongoing nurturing relationships. Both emotional and intellectual development depend on the security of having steady, warm relationships – not just access to educational games and cognitive stimulation. When relationships are absent or disrupted, children are more likely to lack motivation, and the development of reasoning can be disrupted, according to the authors.
2. Physical protection, safety, and regulation. Children need assurance of their physical and psychological security and to be protected from harms ranging from environmental toxins to psychological abuse.
3. Experiences tailored to individual differences. “Nurturing the nature” of each unique child will help parents and teachers identify and prevent behavioral problems as well as help the child reach his or her potential.
4. Developmentally appropriate experiences. The authors warn parents to have realistic expectations for their child: Too much stimulation (or too little) for the child’s age level or stage of development can hinder development.
5. Structure and discipline. Children need to be shown how to channel aggression and solve problems peacefully, so adults need to set limits – and to empathize with the child and his or her weaknesses.
6. Stable, supportive communities and cultural continuity. Children need to grow up in a stable environment that provides a continuity of values from family, peers, and the community at large; but they also need exposure to diversity, according to Brazelton and Greenspan.
7. A protected future. Unless the previous six irreducible needs are met, the authors argue, children’s futures will be in jeopardy.

Adults face tough questions in meeting these noble goals, such as whether day care, television, or even joint custody between divorced couples is harmful to children.

Among the authors’ specific recommendations for the critical first three years of life are that each child have one or two steady primary caregivers; that working parents be available for at least two-thirds of the evening hours with the child; that no more than one-half hour per day be spent watching television; and that, in cases of divorce, the child not be separated from the primary caregiver overnight.

Brazelton and Greenspan emphasize that the “irreducible needs of children” are universal – not limited to developed countries. Because the nations of the world are interrelated, and their prospects for the future mutually dependent on each other, it is the duty of the wealthier countries to help families and communities in less-developed nations, thus ensuring a safe and secure world in which all children can develop their potential, they argue.

“Only secure, well-nurtured individuals are capable of joining together and embracing a broader ethic of shared humanity,” Brazelton and Greenspan conclude.
- Cynthia G. Wagner

Source: The Irreducible Needs of Children: What Every Child Must Have to Grow, Learn, and Flourish by T. Berry Brazelton and Stanley I. Greenspan. Merloyd Lawrence/Perseus Publishing, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142. Telephone 1-617-252-5200; Web site www.perseuspublishing.com. 2000. 205 pages. $23.

Last update on 10/15/08
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What Children Need But May Not Get
Experts identify seven “irreducible needs” for success.

We now know more about what children need to develop successfully, yet we are providing less of that support than ever before, report pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton and child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan.

If children are to have intelligence and emotional health to lead the world in the future, then parents, teachers, policy makers, and politicians must do a better job in meeting children’s basic needs, Brazelton and Greenspan write in a new book, The Irreducible Needs of Children. Children’s seven irreducible needs, they argue, are:

1. Ongoing nurturing relationships. Both emotional and intellectual development depend on the security of having steady, warm relationships – not just access to educational games and cognitive stimulation. When relationships are absent or disrupted, children are more likely to lack motivation, and the development of reasoning can be disrupted, according to the authors.
2. Physical protection, safety, and regulation. Children need assurance of their physical and psychological security and to be protected from harms ranging from environmental toxins to psychological abuse.
3. Experiences tailored to individual differences. “Nurturing the nature” of each unique child will help parents and teachers identify and prevent behavioral problems as well as help the child reach his or her potential.
4. Developmentally appropriate experiences. The authors warn parents to have realistic expectations for their child: Too much stimulation (or too little) for the child’s age level or stage of development can hinder development.
5. Structure and discipline. Children need to be shown how to channel aggression and solve problems peacefully, so adults need to set limits – and to empathize with the child and his or her weaknesses.
6. Stable, supportive communities and cultural continuity. Children need to grow up in a stable environment that provides a continuity of values from family, peers, and the community at large; but they also need exposure to diversity, according to Brazelton and Greenspan.
7. A protected future. Unless the previous six irreducible needs are met, the authors argue, children’s futures will be in jeopardy.

Adults face tough questions in meeting these noble goals, such as whether day care, television, or even joint custody between divorced couples is harmful to children.

Among the authors’ specific recommendations for the critical first three years of life are that each child have one or two steady primary caregivers; that working parents be available for at least two-thirds of the evening hours with the child; that no more than one-half hour per day be spent watching television; and that, in cases of divorce, the child not be separated from the primary caregiver overnight.

Brazelton and Greenspan emphasize that the “irreducible needs of children” are universal – not limited to developed countries. Because the nations of the world are interrelated, and their prospects for the future mutually dependent on each other, it is the duty of the wealthier countries to help families and communities in less-developed nations, thus ensuring a safe and secure world in which all children can develop their potential, they argue.

“Only secure, well-nurtured individuals are capable of joining together and embracing a broader ethic of shared humanity,” Brazelton and Greenspan conclude.
- Cynthia G. Wagner

Source: The Irreducible Needs of Children: What Every Child Must Have to Grow, Learn, and Flourish by T. Berry Brazelton and Stanley I. Greenspan. Merloyd Lawrence/Perseus Publishing, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142. Telephone 1-617-252-5200; Web site www.perseuspublishing.com. 2000. 205 pages. $23.