Jack P. Shonkoff is the Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor
of Human Development and Social Policy at Brandeis University
and former Dean of The Heller School for Social Policy and
Management. For further information, see
www.developingchild.net. Promoting the healthy development of
children is both an ethical imperative and a critical economic
and social investment. A decent and wise society protects and
nurtures all its children, particularly those disadvantaged
early in life, so that they grow up to be productive adults, and
because it's the right thing to do. Public policy regarding
child development is currently plagued by a misguided debate --
some call it a culture war -- about whether child rearing is
solely the responsibility of parents or should be shared more
broadly across the community and society. Ultimately this debate
is futile because science and common sense both tell us that,
although parents are the most important inﬂuences on their
child's development, no family raises children in iso