Does daycare damage children’s brains? So say a growing number of commentators, particularly on the political right. Prominent daycare critic Mikhaila Fuller, daughter of Jordan Peterson, explained to her 1.3 million podcast followers that it affects children in ‘pretty nasty ways’, warning them against ‘traumatizing’ their children. Erica Komisar, an American psychoanalyst, claimed in 2025 on the popular podcast Diary of a CEO that daycare makes young children more likely to ‘develop pathological defenses’ in response to the ‘trauma’ of being separated from their parents. ‘It’s so bad for their brain,’ she continued, ‘and it’s been known to increase aggression.’ At the same time, the educational establishment views daycare as not only indispensable to child development, but also a solution to problems like inequality and violent crime. The European Commission says that preschool ‘lays the foundations for later success in life’.…