Kathryn Said:

Are over-protective parents and health and safety rules damaging our children's education?

We Answered:

In my town, even high school students are let off AT THEIR DRIVEWAYS by the bus. When I first took the bus at age 11, I walked two blocks to a bus stop. No one's mom drove us to the stop or walked with us. I plan my school day daytime trips to never coincide with bus time and I don't drive near any grammar schools around 9 a.m. or 3 p.m. as the traffic is so bad from every mommy in town picking up her kid.
I think most children today are coddled and spoiled beyond belief. Most of them have no idea how to act in public and have a huge sense of entitlement. Their parents encourage this. If a child misbehaves in public and someone complains, it somehow gets twisted around to the whole situation being that the person complaining is "intolerant" of these "wonderful" children.
Yes, there are things kids need to be protected from and those things vary according to what age they are. And there are predators and always will be. But hiding a child constantly under your skirts doesn't teach the child what to do if someone bad does approach them. When I was a preteen I was approached by some much older boys that had obvious ill-intent toward me. I was alone in a park several blocks from my grandparent's house--no one else was even playing there. I managed to evade them and get to a nearby fire house. When the boys saw where I was heading they took off and I went to my grandma's house by the road (even though it was a busy dangerous road that I wasn't supposed to walk along) rather than take the usually safer shortcut through the fields.
I knew to do all this because my parents and grandparents instructed me and taught me to think and then TRUSTED me.
I shudder to think what my childhood would have been like if I had not been able to ride my bike, alone, 2 or 3 miles to a friend's house; not been able to take a 5-mile walk with just my Walkman for company; not been able to take the city bus to my grandparent's house every day in the summer; and many other things that would now be considered unsafe. I was also a latchkey child from age 8 and even cooked dinner for the family if my mom had to work late. Nowadays that's considered child abuse.
One of my best friends teaches 4th grade and she tells me horror stories about her "kids" and how the parents get upset when they have homework or any assignment that challenges them in any way. And even more upset when they get a bad grade for failing to do said assignments/homework. There is no sense of accountability or personal responsiblity. And the teachers aren't allowed to hold kids back--I think it's a maximum of twice--no matter how badly they do in school or how little they learn, they just get passed up to the next grade and become someone else's problem. I honestly don't know how she does it every year because I'd go completely nuts. And it's not that the teachers are bad--the system has basically hogtied them and gives them no creativity or leeway in how to teach anymore.
And I also think all this is contributing to how fat kids are. They can't go outside and play because they will get kidnapped. They can't walk to school or even to a central bus stop because they will get kidnapped. So they sit inside and play video games and gain weight.

Linda Said:

Hi all has anyone any ideas how i can ensure staff clearly understand health & safety info on children in?

We Answered:

train them. give them the harsh realities of what can happen if they don't follow safety and health requirements. most people will do better if they know the reason behind things. training must be on-going.

do trainings on:

cpr/first aid/aed (make sure each staff member is certified)

allergy alerts, special needs (each teacher must read their classes sheet to know of food or special needs).

head to face counts, ratios, transitions, (the need to constantly know how many and who you have)

field trip safety protocol (attendance when getting on bus, getting off bus at site, during trip, getting back on bus, and getting off bus at daycare). counselors do not sleep on bus and do not sit together. one counselor in front and one in back and one in the middle (if that many), taking med bags on trip (and what needs to go in the med bag), permission to treat forms for each child and counselor, emergency information on each child and counselor, water, snacks, cell phones (for business use only), and directons

emergency evacuation plan (tornado, fire, severe disaster) shelter in place (where to take the kids in case of evacuation, what to take in an evacuation (emergency/permission to treat on kids and counselors, blankets, water, snacks, emergency first aid supplies, flashlights) make sure the evac bags are always packed and ready and that each counselor has one in her room and one on each center bus.

bathroom precautions (preschoolers never allowed in bathroom with school aged children, teachers not to assist one on one without a witness of an adult), handwashing for staff and children.

playground safety: counselors NEVER sit together. they are all stationed at assigned areas of the playground to assure coverage and sight supervision. teacher must assess the condition of the playground before taking her class out (make sure there are no broken pieces, swings, etc in the area). sunscreen is applied prior to going out (follow your state guidelines here), watch for signs of overheating in children and teachers, limit use in hot weather.

general health: teach the signs of assessing a child's health when the parents bring them in the morning (lethargic, listless, fever, darken eyes due to lack of sleep). if the parents say he's been sick the teacher needs to ask if he threw up at home or is on meds. if the answer is yes, the child may need to be restricted from care for the day.

physical plant: the condition of their classrrom. they need to assess their room every morning and throughout the day to make sure it's clean and safe (no hanging cords, electrical outlets covered, etc.)

bus drivers: head to face counts, proceedure to make sure no child is left on the bus, what to have on board (emergency forms on each child and teacher, flashlight, first aid kit, road flares, trash can, case of water, cell phone), need to be cpr, first aid trained also

licensing regulations: all of the above and any that your state has in addition. you can never be too careful. set up a room with many infractions and tell the teachers to go in, write down all the infractions they see. at the end, give a prize to whomever got them all. those that didn't, need to be retrained.

these are just a few of the trainings i've conducted. good luck. take your time and be thorough. the above won't happen in a day. i did the above in two 8 hour saturdays. the cpr/first aid/aed will take 6-8 alone usually.

Rodney Said:

Give 5 examples to show what may happen to children if the health and safety precautions are not taken inside?

We Answered:

again, do your own assignment!

Katie Said:

Give five examples to show what may happen to children it the health and safety precautions are not taken insi?

We Answered:

Injury
Death
Property damage
Drug addiction.
Alcoholism.
Ja.