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Parents and Guardians Forum>As a Daycare Teacher, Did I Do Something Wrong?
questions 08:54 AM 03-02-2020
Hello, wondering if anyone has experienced this…

I work at a daycare with the school kids, kindergarten up to grade 6. One day, a kindergarten mentioned the word sex, or told a girl and boy they should kiss…in front of a group of about 11 students with varying ages, so they all got excited and chatty of course. In the moment, I reminded them it’s not the type or word/s to be talking about at daycare.


Once we went over a rule reminder of not using those words, they’re not nice etc. I went further to ask the child’s older sibling (7-8 years old) where their younger sibling may have heard those words before. (Because it wasn’t the first time these words were used in this context and I wanted to understand where this was coming from). The scenario the sibling explained to me; told me it had to do with hearing mom and dad together, (and what we know happens behind closed doors..)


I assured the child that everything was alright and then told my super about it. I thought she would take it from there, but her reply was suggestions on what I should say to mom. I should have said right away that I wasn’t comfortable with that, but I didn’t.

So, mum’s in a rush, and I felt rushed too, and of course—she became defensive as I told her the little one was using inappropriate words…and that the older one shared some concerning info that may have been related to the words. We just wanted them to be aware of it, I tried to be vague, but she was put off right away—which I can understand, really, but I’m hurt that she believed I asked those questions maliciously.


What is the procedure for this sort of thing? When you suspect a child has witnessed or been exposed to something inappropriate, it should be reported, I know...but we've known this family for years and I just wanted to confirm that this scenario was only an accident. I know that we can't 'investigate' and I didn't think I was interrogating the child, (but I can understand why it sounded that way).


This has been a huge misunderstanding but I've learned from this experience, for sure.
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Tags:complaint, confidentiality, inappropriate behavior, mandated reporter, minor children, parent, teacher
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