BCT Editorial – 4/7/08

This page was last updated on April 7, 2008.

Obsolete; Editorial; Beaver County Times; April 7, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Call it a sad sign of the times.

“The Associated Press reports a nighttime child-care center has opened in York County. The owner said the center in Glen Rock will have room for 16 children and will be open from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

“A spokesman for the state Department of Public Welfare said this kind of child care is needed because many parents work non-traditional overnight hours.”

[RWC] Has the Times already forgotten three-shift work was SOP at area plants? Gee, the DPW wants another welfare program. What a shock.

“It’s sad to realize that some children cannot sleep in their own beds at night. However, that’s the point, for better or worse, that we have reached in American society.”

[RWC] This is a choice made by the parents. If you can’t afford to keep your children home at night, should you be having kids?

“Think about it. How many couples do you know in which both parents work non-traditional hours? Shift work, working on weekends and split weeks are common.

“Yet our approach to work is still locked into a 1950s, stay-at-home Mom, Monday-through-Friday mindset that has become obsolete. The York County night-care center is just the latest manifestation of that.”

[RWC] “Monday-through-Friday?” Again, how short is the memory of the editorial writer? Further, the St. Joe zinc smelter worked three shifts, six days a week. I worked there for three summers and loved the fact I always got at least eight hours of overtime pay per week.

“It’s time we as a society recognize this change and adjust accordingly.”

[RWC] The fact that taxes now consume nearly 33% of income couldn’t have anything to do with the need for some families to need two breadwinners, could it?