Numerous studies have shown that supervision is one of the foremost means of preventing a long list of negative behaviors in children, such as accidents and unsafe behavior in small children, fighting and violence, falling grades, truancy and school dropout, smoking, alcohol and drug use, mixing with a negative crowd, delinquency, and sexual promiscuity (Fletcher et al., 2004; Pettit et al., 2001). Although supervision or monitoring are the terms used in this research, we prefer the term vigilant care, because supervision and monitoring carry the connotation of either a detached or an intrusive inspectional stance. Instead, the kind of parental attitude we foster involves a caring presence. Focused supervision does come into play when the parent detects warning signals that necessitate a tighter vigilance. We accordingly use the term supervision to denote the higher levels of vigilant care when, having detected signs of alarm, the parent moves to a more decided and focused kind of watchfulness.

Elements of Vigilant Care

The main aspects of parental vigilant care already are evident in the early days of a mother's care for her baby. The three main aspects include:

1. Attentiveness: The mother usually is highly attentive to her baby. Even when occupied with other tasks, her radar can pick up any minor signal from the infant. We have all heard stories of mothers who can sleep soundly even when a bulldozer passes underneath their windows, yet with the slightest peep from the baby, even the most sleep-deprived mother is wide awake. It is as if she possesses an open channel constantly tuned to the baby. A distress signal received by this channel takes top priority over any other factor in the mother's world.

2. Presence: The mother's attentiveness directs her level of nearness and presence to her baby. When the baby signals some sign of distress, the mother will focus completely on the baby. If she hears a suspicious noise, the mother will position herself in such a way as to be able to quickly protect her child.