March 28, 2023
Karen D’Souza covers arts education, literacy, and early education. She is an award-winning writer who comes to EdSource after covering lifestyle, parenting, health, housing, travel and the arts for the San Jose Mercury News. She is a four-time Pulitzer juror, and her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times and American Theatre Magazine. She has an MA in journalism and a BA in political science and dramatic art from UC Berkeley. Connect on Twitter at @KarenDSouza4 or email Karen D’Souza.
What drew you to the early childhood beat?
I was drawn to the early childhood beat because it seemed to be so undervalued by society at large. That boggled me because early childhood is the key that unlocks the rest of our lives. Ninety percent of the brain is developed by age 5, so what children learn and what they don’t learn, from social emotional skills to reading, sets the stage for their lives before they get to kindergarten.
From your perspective, how has media coverage of pregnancy, young children and child care changed over time?
As a mom, I must admit I also sort of miss the wonder and the magic of those early years, and I feel strongly that early childhood deserves as much attention as anything that comes after.
My hope is that the pandemic raised awareness of how important parenting, child care and early education are to the health and welfare of not just individual families but of our entire civilization. If you can’t find childcare or formula or if you can’t take paid family leave, it’s not just your loss. The rest of the community suffers as well. These are not women’s issues. They are human issues.
What do you hope changes about the coverage of “women’s issues” and early childhood development in the future?
I think we are beginning to see parenting issues being taken more seriously at large. I’ve been thrilled to see women like Jessica Grose get the platform they deserve, and I’m hopeful that kind of attention to caregivers won’t fade once the pandemic is behind us. We can’t afford to continue to treat the health and welfare of the next generation and those who ensure it is a minor issue. It’s the core of who we are.
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