My son attended a local daycare from 7 months old to 3 years old and left there after an incident where he said he had been pinched by a teacher until he cried. I asked him to demonstrate what happened and he showed me how the teacher grabbed him and where. WHen I removed his shirt he had several scratches and bruises in the area where he said he was grabbed that weren't present when he was dressed that morning. I was totally happy with this daycare until he moved to the 3 year old room then all of the sudden he was in trouble all the time and had numerous accidents that were not reported to me. I had to notice the cuts, bruises, black fingernail from being squeezed in a cubby door and report it to the teachers/directors the day after the accidents happened. All of this finally culminated in the scratches an bruises that were caused by a teacher according to my son. When I contacted the director abotu the incident she told me they had video in the room and they would reveiw it and show me any incidents they saw, then they told me they had viewed the video and that nothing out of the ordinary happened but I wouldn't be allowed to see any video.Any suggestions on what further actions I should take in this incident? I have moved my son to new daycare so that isn't an issue, I just don't want this to happen to another child and not have taken enough action. Thanks for any advice.
Thank you all for your advice! I contacted the state to lodge a complaint about the injuries my son received and they have finished the investigation. They determined unintentional rough handling of a child and cited the daycare for that offense. The reports should show online in a few days. The facility was Wheeler Pines and the incident happened on 1/14/08.
State license board for child care facilities and Children Services. If you don't take a stand you are leaving victims that's can't defend themselves at age 3...be their voice!
M.,
I am sure that we all have horror stories from incidences with daycares...I have a couple of them. It absolutely infuriates me that the director of this daycare has dismissed your concerns and gave you no consolation. A couple questions...did you take any pictures of the bruises and/or scratches on your son? What chain of command have you been through with this daycare? If I were you I would be
contacting an attorney and/or doctor to see what course of action you may take. Contact your local news, newspaper etc and expose this...that will cost you nothing. My concern is that this teacher will continue to harm the children that are in this class room. See if you can contact any of the other parents of the kids in that class room as well, maybe they had some sort of incidence. I am sorry that this has happened to you and your little one. I no longet put my children in daycares, I do not trust them.
Please let me know ow this all play out.
M., this is horrible, it should have never happened! You did the right thing by moving your child away and the fact that they would not show you the tape tells a lot about the way the treat the children...if they don't openly hurt them, at least they want to hide other things, who knows?? Maybe they scream at them or don't clean well or pick up food off the floor if the child throws it down (and put it back in their plate), who knows??? My sister works in a daycare in Boston and she tells me all the time that some teachers are just unkind with the children, they don't show affection or care, they let them cry etc..but this is the least of the problems. Did you talk to social services? My syis tells me that there's a law for which the daycares have to be checked regularly (without notice) in case they hide something. i would definitely flag the incident to them or the police, they will know how to proceed from there, they will be able to get the tape and review it.
On behalf of us,other moms, THANK YOU SO MUCH for possibly saving other children from mistreating. A daycare should be always a safe place to put our children and should give us, parents, peace of mind, not concern. I hope your child will forget soon and have new, sweeter memories about his days in the daycare! Take care.
I would imagine DSS comes in and inspects that daycare. I would contact them and ask them if it is policy for a parent not to review a video tape. Also I would ask DSS if they have had any other reports about that daycare, because more than likely they do. If it has happen recently, you should take pictures of the injuries on your child to show DSS.
Report this incident to the state licensing department. Start by contacting the consultant in your area from this site http://www.decal.state.ga.us/CCS/CCSServices.aspx?Page=ma...
They can guide you in the right direction.
Hello M.. I am a in home childcare provider, but I worked in a center where they had video in every room. It is your right to see the video's! Did you write the things that happened down? Did you take pictures of your son's marks and scratches? If so, talk to a lawyer and see what they say. You know every lawyer give you a free hour counceltation. They let you know what you options are. Good luck!
its time to find a new center.. i no its hard but if nothing is wrong with the daycare then they should show u the tapes..
M.
I was a cop for 10 years...please take pictures with the date on the camera!!!!!! That will help if you choose to speak with the police department. Also...what day care is this?? I am new to the area and seeking childcare and will avoid it! I am so sorry you had to go through this. The police department should be able to help and perhaps view the video tape.
My town has a child care referral agency, so my suggestion would be for you to locate something like that in your town and let them know about this daycare. Call DSS and talk to their child care department about what you can do. That all sounds fishy and I'm glad you've taken your son out of there. Good luck and don't let up! Fight for the other children.
You need to report the incident to the state/Bright from the start. They will send out someone to investigate and it will be made public record that the state had to go and investigate and incident at this daycare facility. Not sure exactly where to call. If you to the Bright From the Start website you can probably find the information.
K.
I would call the police and let them investigate!
K.
Call the Departmant of Social Services. If they don't handle that type of issue, they will be able to refer you to an agency that does. You know, kids are very clumsy at this age and they will fall down and get bumps and bruises. I used to live in fear that someone would think I beat my kid for all the bruises and scrapes she had until she was about six. However, it is suspicious that they were not willing to let you review the tapes for yourself. Most reputable businesses would want to clear the matter up if the evidence exonerated the daycare worker. Good luck!
I owned a preschool so I know this to be true. First of all, call bright from the start which is the licensing agency in Georgia. They will guide you in filing a report and will launch an investigation. Any time a parent complains to them, they will investigate and do not warn schools when they are coming. Tell them they video taped it. Although I bet that video is gone by now.
I would also go up on the local review sites and write a poor review for the school to warn others. Good luck
Hi M.,
My sister used to license daycares. Your rights depend on what you signed when you entered your child into the daycare. If you don't have a copy, they HAVE to show you what you signed. If they have video cameras in the rooms then I KNOW there is a clause in the contract pertaining to that. Your right to see it may or may not be there.
You can always call Social Services and file a case against them. They will investigate. The outcome will be determined by the case worker assigned. They are not obligated to get back to you. Also, your case will be strengthened because you have removed your child. You might want to tell the daycare that you intend to report them and they might let you see the tape...or they might destroy it, you have to decide that. An investigation will be a bad mark on the daycare, so be SURE you have good facts.
Before you do anything, make sure you have a copy of your contract.
Hope I helped!
M.
M. - You have already gotten great feed-back from other mom's on the actions to take against the daycare - all of which I would also recommend. The next step is to spread the word. Do you feel comfortable divulging the name & location of the daycare on a site like this? Only through education and communication can we protect our children. These daycares need to be held to a higher standard. Currently, they only respond to a check in the box by an investigator. What they should strive for is the satisfaction of parents and children with the quality of care provided. I am very sorry you and your child are going through this. But do not suffer in silence and do not let them get away with this.
