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The benefits of education go far beyond academic knowledge. True education provides socialization, promotes community values and community involvement, and also enhances social responsibility. Education creates and fosters the development of children into thoughtful and responsible citizens. Preschool is an important foundation for later education, and is crucial to the social growth of a child, and therefore societal growth as the child matures.

Preschool develops the mind and character of a child, laying the foundation for later work. The routine of preschool develops order, consistency, and simple time management. Playing with other children introduces the virtues of grace, being sociable, and promotes interpersonal skills. Interaction with teachers establishes a sense of authority beyond the parents, and teaches the child to bond with important figures in their life that have different interpersonal styles.

Even the best home life cannot compete with the opportunities for growth found in a preschool. Preschool offers toys, lessons, and learning experiences that would be impossible financially and logistically for parents alone to provide. Further, the learning that comes from peers and teachers with different life experiences in invaluable and unable to be duplicated at home or at the local park.

We must also recognize that many children are not raised in loving, nurturing, consistent homes. These children will have a tendency to fall through the cracks societally, and are often marginalized. Preschool can provide these children with the structure and consistency they need as young children to grow into well-developed adults. Further, by utilizing preschool as an intervention, such children may be able to be offered services to improve their situation. Early intervention is the best way to prevent a child from becoming a bully or a criminal later in life. Through the consistency, support, and holistic education that preschool provides, society is likely to benefit later with lower crime rates and a more productive work force.

Society can only benefit from universal preschool. Below age 5, children are at their greatest capacity to learn. Implementing universal preschool capitalizes on this opportunity, paving the way to a brighter, more productive, and more educated citizenry and work force. Universal preschool also serves as a gateway to pro-social behavior, encouraging manners, self-discipline, and friendship. Finally, universal preschool would allow us to intervene early in the lives of children who are neglected or impoverished, which in turn would allow for interventions that would lead to a more hopeful future for these children. Universal preschool would benefit society across the lifespan of the children involved. It is an idea whose time has come.

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