Abecedarian Project crime prevention preschool schools Youth

The Abecedarian Project shows early education prevents crime

The Carolina Abecedarian project is hugely persuasive, early education can prevent crime and it can help people in poverty get out of it.

“The Abecedarian project was a carefully controlled scientific study of the potential benefits of early childhood education for poor children. Four cohorts of individuals, born between 1972 and 1977, were randomly assigned as infants to either the early educational intervention group or the control group.

A September 14, 2013 blog in the New York Times by James Heckman discussed this amazingly great research.

And another piece today in the Times by Nicholas Kristof describes the great strides the Oklahoma has made in providing preschool education to its citizens. Thank you Oklahoma!

We need to put resources into early education. It works. All the detention centers and all the elaborate discipline systems we develop, will not do as much as preschool can to help children become law abiding and productive citizens. It’s never to let to work with anyone but prevention is much less costly and it makes for safer and healthier communities.

Let’s hope that the US Congress lets go of it’s resentment toward others and puts Americans first in addressing the legislation to come before it this week according to Kristof.

Leave a Reply