The Young Caretaking the Young

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 22, 2009) – Dr. Marlene B. Huff, associate professor of pediatrics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and a mental health provider in the division of adolescent medicine at Kentucky Children's Hospital, knows a lot about the young caretaking the young. She talked to the New York Daily News about this subject recently in an article written by Rosemary Black.

[IMAGE2]Children often act as caretakers responsible for other children, but this practice varies widely.  If one thinks globally, child caretaking is not uncommon. Yet, in the United States, there are fewer alternative models of caretaking available to families that might, otherwise, consider child caretaking as a viable option. In the U.S., this method of caretaking has not been popular, in part, because child-caretaking is associated with child neglect.

However, other countries have successfully used child caretaking as a method of increasing the successful functioning of the family unit while, at the same time, ensuring that child neglect is not a danger. In Kenya, for example, child caretakers are routinely used for play and other social activities while mothers typically focus on providing adequate nutrition to the child. 

"This different way of parenting and supervising a small child changes the attachment between the mother and child as well as the attachment between the child and other siblings but not necessarily in a negative or positive way," said Huff. "We know little about long-term attachment patterns of children being raised by parents as well as siblings but research from other countries indicates to various levels of scientific validity, that children raised in this way attach in very specific ways to different caretakers. In other words, such children do not develop any type of psychopathology because they have caregivers that are parents and siblings."  

Huff says one of the necessary understandings of older children taking care of younger ones is a clearly defined role for the child caretaker. "The older child caretaker may be responsible for teaching family responsibilities, appropriate models of play and social interaction, or gender roles acquisition. The bottom line is that the child caretaker must fully understand her/his responsibilities as a caretaker.

"In an interesting way, child caretakers may allow the child being cared for to develop different habits, play activities, and 'favorite' topics in school, than their caretaker resulting in greater diversity among children. The child caretaker essentially communicates to their siblings, social responsibility in a way that an adult caretaker cannot do."

Huff relates this example:

"Layne is the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters. His mother works full-time at a daycare and drives a school bus for the local elementary school as well. Layne’s father is disabled and spends 90 percent of the day in bed. In order for this family to function, the mother has to make some difficult decisions. She needs help. Every child has to assume responsibility for other children as well as the household chores. So, each older child takes responsibility for two younger children. The family carefully plans the role of the child caretaker. In addition to household chores, the caretaker is responsible for teaching and ensuring that their younger charges are dressed and showered, have completed homework, and get to school on time each day. The child caretaker, in this family at least, is a teacher of social responsibility and daily living skills. They are not responsible for discipline, making ethical decisions, or any decision having to do with money.

"Is youth taking care of youth a good idea? Like most questions, the answer is, 'It depends.' If parents are actively involved in defining the caretaker role and prepare the caretaker to manage their younger charges in a healthy way, then children taking care of children can be the most effective and efficient way of caring for children. If, however, the parents believe that by empowering one child to take care of another, their family responsibilities for that young child is over, then children taking care of children will be a disaster? Yet another important question for parents to make a decision about when no clear right answers exists."