A recent report on this subject by Dr. Jack Shonkoff of Harvard’s Center on the Council on the Developing Child concludes that “negative” environments at early age not only impede healthy brain development, but actually cause negative development. Other recent research reveals that children that are born into safe, nurturing, language rich environments are much more resilient to negative effects of generational poverty as they grow up.

Another study documents a difference in the “richness” of language in the environment of children birth to 5 years old characterized as “haves” vs. children characterized as “have-nots”. The study found that “haves” hear an average of 20,000 words/day and “have-nots” hear an average of 2,000 words/day. This difference creates a multi-million-word gap even after the first year of age.

Communities live within a social norm where the community dedicates many resources for the education of children starting fundamentally at school age. This social norm expects that the 6 responsibility of the care, nurturing, and education of children prior to school age is the responsibility of parents and family. The culture in which Black urban parents live accepts that the education of their children begins at school age, is the responsibility of public schools, and that the schools have failed to educate children. The culture does not promote that fact that parents are a child’s first teacher. The belief that schools have failed in their responsibility creates an antipathy between parents and educators and education. High quality childcare is difficult to maintain in impoverished areas because insufficient revenue is available from tuition to sustain “high quality”.