Brave New World?

I was listening to the radio the other day and the topic of discussion was children and the workplace. This remarkably startling story was addressing the childcare "industry" in Australia and the practices taken by companies. In contrast to maternity leaves and such, companies now are offering bonuses and such for childless employees. There was a woman that was to move away for a year to work and only be allowed to see her family periodically, and never be in contact with her family during company time. All of this for the sake of more money.

But really this wasn't the startling thing to me. What creeped me out was the use of the Robby, a household robot that aids in childcare and rearing. These things are even in daycares. It would seem that parents are too tired for the 'tedious' task of caring for their children and must rely on a robot to do so. Immediately I began to think of the psychology experiment conducted years ago in which the need for tactile comfort from a 'mother' is needed:

" infant rhesus monkeys preferred surrogate mother objects providing contact comfort (frames covered with a terry cloth surface) to those providing nourishment (bare wire frames featuring a nipple and milk supply)."

And that's why the idea of a Robby concerns me. I'm not a person preaching about 'the wonders of childbirth' (how would I know?) but I do think that we should invest our own time to care for the children that are here.

if this seems all too cluttered - blame the humidity