Question about daycare worker employee discipline

[KiKi Mouse]

Yesterday I went to pick up my almost one year old from daycare.
While I was speaking to my daughters worker a couple of the young kids were on a play structure. One kid hit another or something.
One of the other workers grabbed the offending kid by the arm and dragged him down the few stairs on this structure. While she was pulling the boy down she was speaking in a VERY raised voice and was saying "what did you do? Look what you did!". It was the tone of voice that you yell at your dog when they poop on the carpet.
After this worker went on to say very loudly to this kid "D____ is NOT happy!", with "D____" being the workers name. In other words she was telling this kid how unhappy she was.

The child is no more than 18 months old.
The worker is new, within the past two weeks and is the infant supervisor.

It was one of those moments where you are shocked and feel so uncomfortable. I spoke to the daycare director this morning and a couple of the workers.

I would like to know what you think is an appropriate disciplinary response to this situation. If you were the daycare director how would you handle this?

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Yesterday I went to pick up my almost one year old from daycare.
While I was speaking to my daughters worker a couple of the young kids were on a play structure. One kid hit another or something.
One of the other workers grabbed the offending kid by the arm and dragged him down the few stairs on this structure. While she was pulling the boy down she was speaking in a VERY raised voice and was saying "what did you do? Look what you did!". It was the tone of voice that you yell at your dog when they poop on the carpet.
After this worker went on to say very loudly to this kid "D____ is NOT happy!", with "D____" being the workers name. In other words she was telling this kid how unhappy she was.

The child is no more than 18 months old.
The worker is new, within the past two weeks and is the infant supervisor.

It was one of those moments where you are shocked and feel so uncomfortable. I spoke to the daycare director this morning and a couple of the workers.

I would like to know what you think is an appropriate disciplinary response to this situation. If you were the daycare director how would you handle this?

Its difficult with just the information you provide to give an answer. Maybe the child you speak of has been an ongoing problem. Maybe he's been disciplined many times before for the same incident and his parents have already been spoken to . The parents of this child maybe has given the OK for the child to be disciplined in this manner, since it is an ongoing problem.

Like I said without more info, its difficult for me to give a direct answer.

 

[2binak]

I'm glad you spoke up. I'm "that mom" who speaks up when I see or feel something isn't right at daycare too. The directors have always told me that they appreciate when parents speak up because they can't be everywhere at once.

I wouldn't be happy if I saw a teacher talking to a child that way, especially at that age. DD's school teachers usually talk to the kids that age in a very nice but firm tone of voice and say things like, "No thank you. We don't hit our friends. So and so (the child who was hit) is sad because you hit him/her." If the situation calls for a more stern tone of voice, they use it, but never in a way that comes across as negatively to parents or other kids. Even if the parents gave the go ahead to be more stern with their child, I don't think I'd be happy about it since the other kids can pick up on the negativity.

If I were the director, I would shadow the worker for a day or two or assign another teacher who has been at the facility for a long period of time to work along side of her and show her how to talk to the kids & what's expected at this facility.

DD's new assistant teacher was more stern with the kids than the other teachers at school so I noticed it right away, during the first few weeks of her being there. It wasn't enough for me to speak up, but I kept an eye on her. She had only worked with 3rd & 4th graders before working at DD's daycare with 2-3 yr olds. There's definitely a huge difference in how you talk to the two different age groups so I was giving her time to adjust. I did notice her tone of voice & demeanor changed over the course of the next month and now she's much better in how she addresses the little ones. I was prepared to speak to the director if I didn't see a change though because her tone was over-the-top for kids in the 2-3 yr age group.

 

[luvmy3]

Without being there and witnessing it I'm not sure how I would answer. Was the child dragged down the stairs so that their feet were still on the top one while their upper body was at ground level? Was the daycare worker screaming?
I don't have a problem with a toddler being "dragged" or forcibly guided (still being able to step down) down the stairs, and don't have a problem with a daycare worker using a stern tone of voice. If they are going to be in a social setting, they need to learn how to behave with the other kids, some toddlers need a little harsher discipline even at that age. I'm not sure it would be something I reported to the director since I dont know just how inappropriate it was.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I was told this morning by another worker that this child is young, just starting to walk stage. He looked young to me. I don't know all the kid's names yet as I am new to the infant side.

I was more concerned with how the child was dragged down the stairs by his arm. The worker went up and pulled him down to the floor roughly.

I was told this afternoon by the director that this worker was spoken to.

Personally I think it would require more than a talk. This worker is new but supposedly has been working in child care for a long time.

Another worker this morning said that this worker is "mean" and she "talks like a trucker".

I bet anything the parents of the little boy who was pulled by his arm have no clue what happened.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Dragging the kid down from the structure is too much, but as a former daycare employee we always said "So-and-so is not happy with what (child's name) did." We didn't yell, we would just use a stern tone.

 

[ols386]

As some have said, with the little information that you gave, it's hard to really know if the behavior of the teacher was appropriate or not. It sounds like she may have a been a bit rough with the child, being as young as you said, but I don't necessarily think taking a child by the arm and guiding them, or whatever you want to call it, qualifies as being inappropriate.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

She wasn't "guiding" him. She pulled him down the stairs and his feet couldn't keep up with his arm.

 

[Diegosmom]

Well I know in our state daycare workers are not allowed to use force with a child. A while back my son was hmmm lets just say the problem child. He would do something wrong be sent to time out but either won't go or would get up and run away as soon as he was put in time out. We were having the same problems at home and they asked me how I deal with it. I told them I sit in timeout with my DS in my lap and I hold him in my lap. (I obviously don't hurt him) and after a few minutes he realizes mommy isnt giving up and sits in timeout. I told them at school and they told me they were not allowed to do anything like this. So I would think it would be some type of State poilcy on this. If you arent getting the responce from the school/director and would see about the state and file a complaint. (I think you are in Canada but I would think things would be similar there).

If things went down the way I am pictureing they did I would expect this person to be flet go or at least put on suspention with some retraining.

 

[sbell111]

Two thoughts:

1. How did a child who is barely learning how to walk get up on the play structure?
2. As a customer, it is really none of my concern how a company chooses to discipline it's employees. In teh case of a daycare, the only thing that would be important to me is whether a person I don't trust around my young child works there. If the answer is 'yes', then I would go elsewhere for my childcare needs.

 

[ols386]

She wasn't "guiding" him. She pulled him down the stairs and his feet couldn't keep up with his arm.

Ok, dragging.

You did the right thing by speaking to the director if you thought it was inappropriate.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

Two thoughts:

1. How did a child who is barely learning how to walk get up on the play structure?
2. As a customer, it is really none of my concern how a company chooses to discipline it's employees. In teh case of a daycare, the only thing that would be important to me is whether a person I don't trust around my young child works there. If the answer is 'yes', then I would go elsewhere for my childcare needs.

1) The structure is a platform with a few stairs and a ramp. I have allowed my daughter to crawl up it if there is a worker with her.

2) I do not trust this person after what I saw. Can I go anywhere else? No. Daycare waiting lists are two years long here. I have both my daughters on a list for a different daycare but I can't get spots for two kids of two different ages. Our only hope is for the older one to be in kindergarten in a year and a half and then hoping a spot opens somewhere else for the little one. Quitting my job is not an option.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

As a nursery nurse (in England) this sort of story makes me really sad. It can easily give nurseries (day care centres) a bad name.
I would echo the poster who said how did he get up there in the first place?

When I deal with children in my care, if I need to get them down off of play equipment i lift them off. It sounds as if what the OP saw was totally innappropriate.
I never raise my voice at a child only use my stern voice and appropraite language to the child's age and level of understanding.
It may be that the worker had more than just a talking to - the director is not at liberty to reveal what steps/ actions or disciplinary proceedures have been taken against that member of staff. This has certainly been the case when I have had to deal with staff issues and "report" back to parents.

I think the OP totally did the right thing in bringing this incident to the attention of the director. If you are not happy or comfortable with your childcare setting then you should look for an alternative.

Claire

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yesterday I went to pick up my almost one year old from daycare.
While I was speaking to my daughters worker a couple of the young kids were on a play structure. One kid hit another or something.
One of the other workers grabbed the offending kid by the arm and dragged him down the few stairs on this structure. While she was pulling the boy down she was speaking in a VERY raised voice and was saying "what did you do? Look what you did!". It was the tone of voice that you yell at your dog when they poop on the carpet.
After this worker went on to say very loudly to this kid "D____ is NOT happy!", with "D____" being the workers name. In other words she was telling this kid how unhappy she was.

The child is no more than 18 months old.
The worker is new, within the past two weeks and is the infant supervisor.

It was one of those moments where you are shocked and feel so uncomfortable. I spoke to the daycare director this morning and a couple of the workers.

I would like to know what you think is an appropriate disciplinary response to this situation. If you were the daycare director how would you handle this?

That's so sad.

I don't know. I think I may fire her. At the very least suspend her and make her take specific training on toddler discipline.

ETA: For the sake of the children and for the sake of their business, I think day care directors need to be really strict about these things. It's not hard to pull a child's arm out of joint and if that happened, it would most likely be in the news. She could lose a lot of "customers", if not her license.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

Note that this worker is on probation as she is a new employee.

Personally I would have fired her. She's probationary. Cut your losses. She is a liabilty.

 

[Cinderella94]

I have no idea how she should be disciplined, but I'd like to add that I don't think her age and the fact that she's new should factor into your being bothered by it. An employee that's been trained is an employee, period. Maybe this just bothers me because I'm 16 and have coached the year-round swim team that I was on for 3 years now, and I would hate if any of their parents thought of me as less of a coach just because I'm young.

ETA: I just read your comment about her being on probation. That changes my answer slightly, because on probation is different than full blown employee.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I have no idea how she should be disciplined, but I'd like to add that I don't think her age and the fact that she's new should factor into your being bothered by it. An employee that's been trained is an employee, period. Maybe this just bothers me because I'm 16 and have coached the year-round swim team that I was on for 3 years now, and I would hate if any of their parents thought of me as less of a coach just because I'm young.

ETA: I just read your comment about her being on probation. That changes my answer slightly, because on probation is different than full blown employee.

This woman is a new employee at the center and was hired as the infant program supervisor. She is not new to working and not new to life. I estimate her age to be in her late forties. Old enough to know better.

I am hoping the other employees will be keeping a watchful eye and will talk to the director if something else inappropriate occurs. Hopefully this person will be terminated soon.

 

[Cinderella94]

This woman is a new employee at the center and was hired as the infant program supervisor. She is not new to working and not new to life. I estimate her age to be in her late forties. Old enough to know better.

I am hoping the other employees will be keeping a watchful eye and will talk to the director if something else inappropriate occurs. Hopefully this person will be terminated soon.

OH YIKES I'm sorry I read your OP too fast and read "the child is no more than 18 months old" as "the worker is no more than 18 years old"

 

[CharliNye]

Not to be tolerated. I don't care how the kid got up there, fact is small kids just walking can crawl up a couple stairs. That should have NO bearing in what this woman did.

What you witnessed is grounds for dismissal in my book. You do not touch a child that way that you work for, ever. You do not grab roughly, you do not drag. If the child is crying, upset then you gently pick them up, bring them down and talk to them. Whether they are 18 mos old, 1 yr old, 2, 5 or 8. IT does not matter. You do NOT drag a child in your care ever.

I honestly would have said something to her right there, hell I would have swooped in and grabbed the kid from her. Wow. If you witnessed that then there is no question she is probably rough to other kids.

Most daycare facilities have a one strike and you're out policy. If the parents found out(and frankly they should know!! I would want to know!) they could sue the daycare. These things are taken very, very seriously these days.

 

[nmmom95]

I think that is entirely too harsh for an 18 month old. I have never worked in daycare, but I have children. I think at that age, a stern, simple reprimand, like "no hitting" and a time out would be sufficient until the parents came. Then, she could have discussed it with them.