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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Should I report coworkers behavior?
COgirl 12:53 PM 08-08-2019
Hello,

I am new to working in a daycare for school age kids, I am not very experienced in a daycare setting however have worked with kids through various jobs when younger (babysitting, high school teaching course, church preschool, etc.).

My coworkers are not very nice people and they tend to use inappropriate techniques with the children for getting them to listen and throughout the day(at least I think it's inappropriate).

One coworker who has been at this center the longest, always has a bad attitude and yells at the kids. She will mock kids for crying in front of all the other kids (as in "waah waah, if you're crying then you need to leave" in reference to a kickball game they didn't know how to play). She will talk about the kids in front of all the kids ("If I had so and so for a kid, I couldn't handle myself" etc.) or mention in front of everyone that some kids are too sensitive and cry all the time.

One time, a 7 year old girl was asking me a question quietly and I naturally bent down to listen and answer her question. This coworker came over and said "Stop babying them" then looked at the girl and told her to go sit down.

The worst of the problems, is these coworkers on field trips, will take pictures of the kids sleeping on the bus, send the pictures in a group chat and laugh at them. I am unsure how to go about this, as they are not posting these to any social media pages or publicly, but it seems so wrong.

Also on field trips, taking phones out to take selfies.

They tell me I need more bass in my voice and that I need to be louder-as in they think yelling at kids is the technique we should be using to direct the kids.

I also have seen them bully another coworker because she is more soft spoken.

Me being new, with no experience at a daycare, is very conflicted emotionally with all of this. I am soft spoken but my common sense tells me how the treat the kids and act is wrong.

Even the director says I need to be more stern. I told him I shouldn't have to yell for them to listen and he stated back some kids I have to. That's not a very good approach to working with children from my perspective.

I am planning to tell our facility trainer but want to know, maybe I am being overly sensitive to these situations.

Any thoughts or advice? Thank you!!
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springv 01:10 PM 08-08-2019
I would quit
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COgirl 01:23 PM 08-08-2019
Yep, already putting my notice in tomorrow. Is this behavior I should mention to my director and trainer?
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Blackcat31 01:33 PM 08-08-2019
Originally Posted by COgirl:
Yep, already putting my notice in tomorrow. Is this behavior I should mention to my director and trainer?
Is this program licensed by the state?
Do they serve only school aged children?
Do the kids ever complain to their parents or to you that you know of?

You are right to be concerned... as much as it seems common to me, it really isn't appropriate at all and should definitely be reported.
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COgirl 01:47 PM 08-08-2019
Thank you! It is actually a military base facility for military families. This specific facility is only for school age however within this branch, there are facilities for younger children as well. An employee at the younger child daycare also told me about the specific mean coworker of mine and how she was fired from their facility. Not sure how she got into ours (she is the one who yells at them the most).

The odd thing is that she is friends with the parents on facebook. No one seems to complain about her besides the younger child day care employees (trainer, front desk staff, etc.). However, I have noticed her switch her tone of voice when parents walk in, it becomes more bubbly and friendly-uses a lot more positive guidance language.

The other coworkers seem to follow her and act like her, maybe they are afraid?

Since I have not heard any complaints, it made me question my concerns as everyone seems to like her. I thought maybe I am overreacting and these are typical tones of voice in daycare facilities. The only comments I hear from the kids are that she's strict or sometimes "not nice".

I did find in the handbook that personal photos of the children are not permitted at all, so as much as I don't want to tattle, this isn't appropriate at all.

I am nervous to report because I don't want to put a target on my back as the community we are in is small. But I can't let these concerns slide especially when it comes to children.

I decided to put in my notice because this has been an emotional toll in my personal life as well and since everyone seems to accept their teaching and guidance techniques, I can't see our director letting these coworkers go.
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Ariana 03:57 PM 08-08-2019
Aaaaand this is why kids grow up and become murderers

Ugh this breaks my heart for these children. No one deserves this. I used to take my DC kids to the park but because of all of the stuff I saw there I stopped going. Providers yelling at kids, talking about them in front of them, not supervising or helping kids when they got hurt etc. I couldn’t handle it anymore.
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HHangout 06:51 PM 08-08-2019
Yes report and if it continues, report to your licensor (which I just applied to be last week!) and quit.

I was at a playground today and a Kinderscare...oops I mean Kindercare was there....and there were 3 staff and 20 kids and lunch went fine. They had gloves, spoke normally, and distributed provided lunch. Then the kids went onto the playground. All 3 staff stood back and talked, repeatedly yelling at the kids across the playground.
They are to stand in the area with the kids, actively watching, and approach them using quiet voices when they need to. Interact with them.
I worked with many like that in childcare, it is really common. I always sat with the kids and talked and moved when they did. Hated when others didnt.
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Josiegirl 03:58 AM 08-09-2019
That's so sad to hear about. These people need to find another profession. People like that probably feel it's just an easy money job that takes little effort. But exactly the opposite is true. These are little hearts that are broken every day by the words we say and how we act towards them. Fine if you have to vent to others outside of earshot but you shouldn't ever treat a child like that.
This job requires a kind heart, commitment, compassion and education. Yeh, I'm sure we've all used firm tones, maybe even yelled once or twice but a constant barrage of hurtful words can damage a child. Yes, they're resilient to a point but all kids need to know kind actions from their providers.
I don't know if you've reported them or not yet, but am glad to hear you're getting out. And I think, if it were me, I'd tell them exactly why. Is there anyplace online, you can review or rate them? I know that can open up a nasty can of worms, especially for you, but damn, I'd want to know as a parent, exactly what the place is like.
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HHangout 10:21 PM 08-09-2019
Yesterday I posted about staff at a playground yelling at kids. Today the boys and girls club was out and for the FIRST time I saw staff do a GREAT job. They didnt yell, they stood by the kids, it was what they should have been doing. Im going to call their boss up and tell them their staff was great. If I knew what Kindercare was out yesterday I would have called, too, to say their staff were horrid.
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Tags:center workers, employee issues, mandated reporter
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