"Even though lack of funds is the main problem, the government cannot just pay its way out of this predicament."PA
"The leaders of this country must cut through the bureaucratic red tape and provide legislation to insure the funds needed to provide for these at-risk youth today than to pay for their stay at correctional centers in the future. The future is truly in their hands, and it is one worth fighting for America can't let her brightest fire, the youth of this country, be snuffed out. America has always risen up and conquered the problems that lie before her. And she will again. OK
"State and local governments, religious organizations, employers and parents have tried to meet the increasing demands for better child care. But obviously it is something they cannot do without the government's help. Only the government has the money to create a versatile child care system so all parents can incorporate family life and working life into a healthy balance. . .While other nations have already paved a road for their youth, our nation hasn't even finished constructing one." PA
"In conclusion, I would strongly urge our federal government to set up better guidelines for day care programs. Offer some grants or subsidies to assist businesses in setting up a day care program in the office. Give some tax credits to less financially able parties so they might afford better day care for their children. Review the requirements to open a day care center. Let's get the centers into the hands of qualified and trained people instead of many home care providers that have little or no skills to day anything else." NE
"In conclusion, I think that the people should not put their child care worries on the shoulders of others simply because they are too lazy to work for a living. I also feel that standards for child care should be improved for those that pay for it because it isn't fair for some middle class families to be overburdened with the expense of child care when some are not. It would be a very good idea for the government to think about the problems they are creating and move cautiously because once the decisions are made, they are hard to change." ND
"In conclusion, we the people of the United States have an innate power invested in us called the vote. With that power we will be able to make better day care come about and also solve the above mentioned problems. Thus we will also be able to bring about a safe and qualified day care that will not only give our children a place to stay but also give us peace of mind." FL
"In conclusion, I would like to say that I have learned a great deal of information about this growing controversy. If children are living in homes where one parent works or both parents work, then they are most likely in need of child care. More child care programs are in need and people with more than three children should receive tax breaks, because they need more money for child care. It is also essential that one parent be encouraged to stay home with his or her child under the age of six if at all possible. After all, a parent's care is the best care of all. It would also be of great assistance to people who receive welfare to have the government pay total child care for them then they could save their earnings and possibly be weaned from government support." NE
"The America I envision in the future is a technological leader, a place where an emphasis is placed on the home, a place where government intervention is looked upon with scorn, and above all a place where education of a child is above any other object, including material wealth. Any bills causing mandatory day care would lead us away from that future. The future now begins in the hands of every parent in America." IN
"The American people seem to be in a spending trap that they can not get out of. Maybe we young leaders of tomorrow will find a way, but we must get involved. We must make an effort to participate in voting and maybe run for pue can't trust the government, who can we trust?"AL
"Some people may think there will never be another Ronald Reagan because of how children today are being treated." VA
"Richard Nixon tried to get another child care bill across in 1971, but it went up in smoke almost as quickly as Nixon's career." NE
"Currently parents have become weak in the battle of raising children." FL
"America is the land of opportunity . . .for babysitters." MA
" (regarding the proposal to give $1,000 to parents). . .everyone would find ways to be poor so they could get in on this free money too." NY
"Parent's should try spending perhaps an extra hour with their child each day instead of putting money on the kitchen table." VA
"What I am trying to say is that money for child care should be spread out amongst the poor and the rich people; more for the poor, and less for the rich." NY
". . . if our government has been so successful in other things why would it not be successful in the child care business." FL
"If America is so great, then why are these things happening?" CT
"We need to remember our present educational system in public schools did not evolve until our government intervened, and preschool education, justifiably, should be no exception."TN
"To pay three thousand dollars a year to a day-care center is like receiving a bullet through the right arm for young couples trying to make ends meet." IL
"Although
the Supreme Court has brought a lot of voters down . . ." NY
Oh Horrors!
"The government cannot reasonably expect a parent to give up a career and a source of income in order to raise a child." WI
"Clearly then, the government should provide child-care services to the parents in this country, since many of them have been forced to work for financial reasons." MA
"I feel that the government's role regarding childcare should be to provide what they can to those who need it. . .So the tax must be enough to help but not so demanding from the people that it hurts." MD (A budding politician.)
". . . we simply could not have everybody working in their homes. Who would run the factories?" CA
"There are so many other ways to get the money needed for child care. One is that, congress could lower the paychecks of those who are overpaid." FL
"We must strive to help those who are having financial trouble, yet we can not unfairly burden those who have reached financial security. We must be careful in the formation of governmental acts and make sure that these proposals are fair to the nation's citizens as a whole." AL (Another budding politician!)
"Another possible solution is to pay mothers or fathers the same wages paid to child care workers." KS
"An example of how this relates to low quality is going to a store and buying a box of cheap trash bags and then finding they break after they are only half full. It might be okay to get an inexpensive cheap quality trash bag for your garbage, but children are not like trash bags. They need to be treated better." FL
"If we ignore this issue and fail to deal with it, it will
grow and destroy generations just as a weed left unnoticed may destroy a garden. . . When neglected
a flower withers and dies. Let us think of children as flowers." CA
Kids
And Their Caretakers
"The government needs to pass programs that will make it easier for parents with kids who need to work." CA
"If the ones (children) who are placed in day care turn to violence as a result, then what will this country do?" TX
"At the age of three, children ask many questions. Many day-care centers do not have enough personnel to answer these questions." AR
"The principal problem with little people is that they soon grow to become medium people and then big people. Any abnormalities in their early development are likely to grow in proportion to their bodies, making their mature adult counterparts less likely to enjoy success and happiness and more likely to rob convenience stores." VA
"Latchkey children often wonder what they can do after school to keep themselves occupied. Many of them decide to get into trouble with their friends." NY
"Some single mothers lock their children in the house with padlocks. This is known as 'latchkey'. . . Latchkey is a serious crime. A person can be sent to prison for latchkey." FL
"The government should insure the quality of the center's leaders and it should be required that they be loving and caring women who are extremely patient and perhaps have children of their own." CA (Only fairy godmothers need apply!)
"The role of business has enveloped today's society and caused the role of the family to slip down the ladder, while causing professional child care to race up the ladder." TX
"Do we want the rulers of our country to be brought up thinking that making rocket ships and broadcasting news which interrupts prime time is more important than their well being?" MO
"No one wants to have his children watched by a maniac who knows nothing about children or how to take care of them. . . (on the other hand) It takes time and effort to sit and watch a child all day and listen to them scream and yell." TX
"The government really seems to think that men help with the children. Have you ever tried to get a male to change a baby's diaper or feed him his dinner?" NY
"Parents do not need to have children only to let someone else raise them. This would cause a lazy parent society." AR
"Children need mothers, but they do not need full time mothers. Full time mothers become their children's slave and are taken away from society and the work force." CA
"Without the government leading the way to better and more affordable child care, society will strangle. . .If the ABC bill does not pass, then the government's job is to find another plan to keep the rope that today's day care is dangling by from fraying." TX
"Although the United States may not be a leader of the industrialized nations in child care, it is handling its problems of child care much better than any of the third world nations." TN
"In 1990, government food programs cost four hundred million dollars alone. Without such aid, reduced and free school lunches would not be possible, discouraging mothers to send their children to school." TX
"Just because a parent wants to send his or her child to a church-run day care, it does not mean that they do not need the money just as bad as another. America is a country based on freedom. If this is the government's idea of freedom, they should all go out and get a dictionary." AL
"Many people try to be a parent and a businessperson, and, in most cases, it doesn't work. People tend to wear down, and find out that it's harder than they thought." NY
"The House makes the bill unreasonable. It makes Congress look like a dog chasing after its own tail. Instead of sending the child to school when he is five, they will start sending him before he can crawl!" MI
"The government should be responsible to aid in the education but we cannot turn our government into a babysitting board of directors." SD
"I feel if the government is going to help with the schools by giving them money for unnecessary things, they should also give to the child care centers for things that could be of good use." TX
"How can government help with child abuse? As we know, stress is a major factor in child abuse. Parents become frustrated at their low-paying job. They come home in grumpy moods. The child sets off the parents' anger, and then the parents take it out on their child. With financial help from government, they do not need to worry as much about supporting their children. They feel much happier when they can put some money into something useful, like a new car or a pool. This happiness helps to reduce stress." NY
"Another con could be the cooking and cleaning. The cooking is okay and could be fun. The cleaning is awful. If you stay at home you do the chores. This can definitely be a con. With all of the cons for a stay-at-home dad it can sometimes seem like dad should not stay home with the children." MI
"If legislation is not passed concerning child
day care, the women in the work force might want to react harshly toward the government. This could
cause a great outbreak of female rebellion across the nation. If the women got together, they could
wipe out industry and bankrupt businesses by their refusal to work because the United States government
did not provide funding for child day care as a result of not passing the bills regarding child care."
AL