Who is going to take the risk?

Steve Young, Co-Editor of Child Care Work in Focus a quarter-century ago, reflects on crisis and challenge in the profession, just as CYC-NET's discussion group has been doing this past month ...

Sometimes I just know that I’m crazy for wanting to be a child care worker. Listening to friends and professional acquaintances; to all the things they have tried to do to professionalize the field of child care work, I often find myself wondering why they keep trying! The frustrations they retell make mine look insignificant. Yet, their perseverance is inspiring. With so many obstacles to overcome, their ability to seemingly take it all in stride amazes me.

Considering what we are up against, it is easy to begin wondering if such persistence is worth our efforts. After all, it’s much easier to go along with everything as it is now and just hope that someday things will get better. Yet this yields little but a fantasy, as change is very rarely created unless someone is willing to take a risk. In the case of child care, there is something important at stake if we fail to do that which is not easy, that which may often seem impossible.

Without people who are willing to take some risks, to face setbacks and keep on trying, there would be no professional child care workers. We all know of the need for improvements in the quality of care now available for children. We talk about it everyday. But what are we doing? Better quality care will not come about by itself, it must have our energy and dedication to come alive.

And who is in a better position to know what improvements in care for children are needed than child care workers? We spend more time with and have more influence upon children than any other professional group. We are faced, day after day, with the responsibility of dealing with emotionally disturbed, physically handicapped, mentally retarded, and often, very normal children. We share the triumphs and defeats of each of our children and see the impact of our services and institutions reflected in their lives. We face the frustrations of dealing face to face with the everyday problems of these children. Because of these things, we must act as advocates for each child.

I believe that only those who have attempted such work can have an understanding of what it really involves. This is why it is essential that child care workers take a more active part in creating change. It is one of the reasons why many child care workers have taken up the challenge to improve the care given to children through a united effort.

Standards and ethics for child care workers have traditionally been established by other professional groups. Typically, child care workers have had little or no voice in policy making decisions, on the agency, state or national level. How can we, as professionals, allow this to continue? We must find a way to involve ourselves.

Although trying to create change is often very discouraging, progress is being made. Just recently, the National Organization of Child Care Worker Associations was established. This was an enormous step. For the first time, child care workers can represent themselves on a national level to work for legislative changes, the development of training and education programs, and the improvement of standards.

There is something very important at stake here ... the lives of the children we serve. If we fail as professionals to lend our energy and commitment to improving services on all levels; to involve and concern ourselves with the full range of issues that affect our children, then are we not, by our inaction, supporting the continuation of the grim realities which surround us? Fantasies of what could be can only become reality through the dedication and commitment of involved people. People like you and me.

It won’t be easy. Important changes never are. And it will take many of us, working together, learning from each other, sharing our knowledge, our successes and failures for a long time to come. But isn’t it worth it? Isn’t it worth our time, energy and commitment to see the realization of the dream for every child to have the opportunity to reach his or her fullest capacity to live a happy, healthy, productive life?

This feature from Child Care Work in Focus, Winter 1978. Reproduced with permission of the Academy of Child and Youth care Practice.