What happens when an early childhood teacher oversteps her boundaries and administers medication to infants without parental consent?
Effective communication is the backbone of any educational setting, and in the second chapter, we break down six essential types of conversations that administrators should master.
Is babysitting undermining the professionalism of early childhood educators? While acknowledging the financial pressures and low wages that lead many educators to seek side gigs, we discuss how informal babysitting arrangements can devalue our field. Join us in this episode as we explore these pressing issues and invite you to share your thoughts.
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What happens when an early childhood teacher oversteps her boundaries and administers medication to infants without parental consent?
Effective communication is the backbone of any educational setting, and in the second chapter, we break down six essential types of conversations that administrators should master.
Is babysitting undermining the professionalism of early childhood educators? While acknowledging the financial pressures and low wages that lead many educators to seek side gigs, we discuss how informal babysitting arrangements can devalue our field. Join us in this episode as we explore these pressing issues and invite you to share your thoughts.
Follow me :
Website: https://www.jerekhough.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stumblingthroughwork/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jerekhough/
Welcome to Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out. I'm your host, jarek Huff, and I'm here to explore and share the complexities of our work and let you know you are not alone. Before we start, though, please follow this podcast and share episodes with others. You can find me on my website, wwwjerekhuffcom, where you can find links to my social media and where I share information and tips for educators. Now let's jump into today's episode. Hey team, welcome to another episode of Stumbling Through Work where educators figure shit out.
Speaker 1:We're going to start with another headline story today, and this one comes to us from Seattle. A Seattle early childhood teacher is out of a job for giving children and infants melatonin without parents' permission. During a state investigation, the teacher at name of the school we're not going to say that we're better than that admitted to giving kids melatonin, a sleep aid supplement. A former employee told the news. The children were as young as one year old. Quote I'm not afraid to say something if I see that it's happening, even if it's not the popular thing to do. Unquote, said the teacher. The teacher was a former. The teacher that's giving the interview is a former teacher at the school and worked there until May of 2023. While she didn't see children being given the medication, she did tell the news what she witnessed in that classroom around nap time. Quote. I do remember recalling how heavily those children slept and for how long. Most days the naps would run two, maybe three hours. Unquote.
Speaker 1:An inspection report from Washington Department of Children, youth and Families, dcyf, found the teacher did give melatonin to infants without parental consent. Quote. We would often have to rile some of the children and some of them would be in a really groggy state. I remember asking her once about a particular child Are they okay? Because of the way they were kind of fussing and stumbling around and trying to form words and sounds after we woke them up. Unquote.
Speaker 1:Under state law, a child care provider cannot give sedation medication unless it has been prescribed to the child. It is unclear how many children have been given the supplement. How many children have been given the supplement? The school told the news. The teacher gave melatonin to several infants in late 2023, and once they became aware they took swift action and fired the teacher. The state also reported that. Excuse me, the state report also claimed staff members knew but did not report the dozy. The executive director of the school said in a statement that as soon as they became aware of the incident, they fired the teacher and self-reported to Child Protective Services. The director said they are cooperating with authorities for the investigation and communicating with parents. Quote it's crucial to note that this occurrence is an isolated incident. We treat all allegations of educator misconduct with utmost seriousness and are committed to implementing every necessary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of our children in a safe and nurturing environment. Dcyf said it gave the school corrections it needed to make, including retaining and medication management, which the agency said the school has already completed.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's start with the obvious. We are not physicians. I'm not a physician. Let's start with the obvious. We are not physicians. I'm not a physician. I haven't run into a lot of physicians that work in child care as educators. They exist. They definitely do exist, but I'm not one, and there are not a whole bunch of them.
Speaker 1:We do not know what a child can and cannot have, and I get it. Some of us have been in the field for so long. When we start seeing symptoms, we see these signs and symptoms. We kind of know what it is. We know what pink eye is when we see it. We know what hand, foot and mouth is when we see it. There are things that, when we see it, we know, but we're not a doctor, so we're not a physician. Don't get full of yourself.
Speaker 1:At no point should you start thinking that you have the ability to give a child somebody else's child not your own, but somebody else's child some medication. Now, I've been that person. I've given my child a little bit of Tylenol too. I gave my baby something. I'm like you got things to do, I ain't got time for this, but that's my baby, that's my child, but that's my baby, that's my child. I would never I just can't conceive giving someone else you all that the medication must be prescribed for this kind of reason, because we're not doctors, parents and families aren't doctors to say, oh well, he's not feeling well, just give him 9500 Tylenol, like darn no. And this is why it has to be prescribed, because the doctor is letting us know, the physician is letting us know this is acceptable and this is fine for this child to have, and they're signing off on it. That is why that is a requirement for many child care licenses.
Speaker 1:Now, what I am also concerned about is this nap time. I'm going to read you all what she said again. Let me go back. Most days the naps would run two, maybe three hours. Now three hours is a little excessive for nap time. I'm not going to lie. Three hours is a long time. That child was tired. Y'all wore that child out that day, but two hours is not long at all. So now I'm kind of questioning looking at this expert that they brought in, because you know, when they bring in people for um to do interviews to be a little questionable. But they brought in their expert, quote unquote who said the naps could run two hours. Girl, there is nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1:And just so that you guys know, you guys know I always like to cite my sources I'm gonna read you all a quick excerpt from my All About the Itters 3 book. And if you don't know what that is, your Itters book is your infant and toddler's environmental rating scale, which is a book that many educators use within the classroom. And as it says about nap time for my toddlers, toddlers can be waken if nap time goes beyond two hours. So two hours is a good amount of time for a nap. So now I'm concerned when she's like oh well, when we wake the kids up and they're groggy. Well damn, how long were you letting the kids sleep for? You know 30 minutes. Hell. I would wake up groggy too if I'm supposed be getting a two-hour nap, because my body needs it at that age.
Speaker 1:So you know, her little testimony is a little questionable, but. But I think the biggest thing for me overall was the fact that when they said the other teachers knew and said nothing, that part got me. That means there are other human adults in that school that knew this was happening and said nothing. I'm going to read you what this lady said again, what the executive director said again. I'm just going to rewind it.
Speaker 1:It's crucial to note that this occurrence is an isolated incident, is it? We treat all allegations of educator misconduct with utmost seriousness and are committed to implementing every necessary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of our children in a secure and nurturing environment. Lies, and the reason why I say that is because if these other teachers knew and said nothing, they should be held accountable as well. Period these other teachers knew and said nothing. They should be held accountable as well. Period. That is child abuse right there at its finest. You allowed a drug pusher who was in there pushing the melatonin it's a substance, so she a drug pusher, to be given drugs to these children and you said nothing. Unacceptable. They all should be held accountable.
Speaker 1:And for me, reading this, it was like, oh, they reported it to licensing and I guess I'm assuming their licensing reported it to you. Know some form of a police situation? Let me tell you if I know of a situation where somebody is given melatonin, passing drugs. Their use is up in there. I'm not. I mean, yes, I'm reporting to my child care license, but I'm reporting it to the police, I'm reporting it to everybody. Let me tell you if I was that staff member and I heard this I'm calling the police, metro, the Sheriff's Department. I'm calling everybody Highway Patrol. I'm calling the Park Rangers, smokey the Bear. I'm calling, I'm calling space force. Look everybody, somebody's getting arrested. I'm telling on everybody because that is ridiculous.
Speaker 1:I I just can't believe people are taking the approach to just giving someone else's child a son, like I just can't move past that. That just got me and all she was was and I hope something more is coming than that, because she deserves it, because she had the tenacity to be like oh, I'm going to do what I want to do Now. To lighten it up just a little bit, let me tell y'all this teacher said y'all going to take this nap time today Because she got things to do. She said y'all going to be on a routine and I got things to do. I got toys to clean. Y'all was on my nerves today and y'all gonna go ahead and take this good old nap. Now she said y'all gonna keep playing and find out real quick why this classroom was always controlled. But I just still can't believe that. And it was the way that they wrote it. I'm assuming the person that wrote this article doesn't really know anything about licensing, because when they said they're not allowed to give sedation medication unless it's been prescribed to a child. So I won't go in on them today, I'll let it be. But that article and I've heard this before in several places and it just baffles me that people do this no-transcript ownership and responsibility of someone else's child and then you do this like I just can't get past it. So well, moving past this, we'll be right back.
Speaker 1:We all want our schools or programs to be the best and although every school is different, all successful programs have the same fundamentals Best Practices for High-Quality Preschool, afterschool and Enrichment Programs by Jarek Huff share standards to foster a high-quality program. These tips will help you put your best service forward, focusing on your children, families and communities. Best Practices for High-Quality Preschool, afterschool and Enrichment Programs by Jerrick Huff is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. Welcome back.
Speaker 1:I had a conversation with an administrator the other day about how to have positive and productive conversations with her staff, because she feels like her staff doesn't like her. And she was telling me about a couple of situations and I was thinking well, girl, I wouldn't like you either, because it feels like you're just calling people out, like you're just calling them out for sport. And what I told her was you have to be intentional with your conversations. They have to serve a purpose, because you just can't be calling them out. It feels as if you're picking on them and that's how you get staff that wants to meet you behind target. Like you can't be doing this. These people no, you can't do that. There has to be a form of decorum when you are speaking with people, and that decorum comes with intentional. So I have these six methods that I keep, that I always tell them like every conversation is going to fall within one of these six, one of these six frames. So I said I said you know what, I'm going to share these with my listeners and hopefully, when you have conversations you will think of these.
Speaker 1:The first one is an agreement conversation. An agreement conversation is about what you want to accomplish, and an example of that would be potty training. We need to get these children potty trained within the next two months so that we can get them to move on to the next class. It's about what we want to accomplish. Then there's the understanding conversation, which is about knowing expectations. For example, I was talking with someone today about when children come in the room, the first thing they're supposed to do is wash their hands. That is an expectation. That is an understanding conversation. I want you to understand my non-negotiables and, like I told her, when children come in your classroom and don't wash their hands, that's just nasty and that says a lot about you as a teacher. But I digress to stay back on topic.
Speaker 1:Another one is cooperation and collaboration conversation, and those are usually about how to work together. Usually I have those type of conversation with co-teachers that might not be getting along or who need to figure out who's doing what. So if you're doing this one, then this one's doing this one, and when this one's doing this one, you should be doing this. And this is how we learn to work together that cooperative learning situation, so that we can be better. Then there's the goal conversation, which is kind of obvious. You know where are we going, where are we trying to get to? What does that look like? I think we had an episode once where we talked about smart goals, so I usually tend to use that a lot. But then there's also the progressive conversation, which is how do we get to a goal? Because sometimes you have to break those goals down and maybe that goal might not be achievable at that moment, but we need to show how we're going to make progress to get to those goals. And then the final conversation is about an update, and that is just where are we Like, where are we currently? Let's check in to see if we are there.
Speaker 1:Every conversation that you can have falls under these six. As I was telling her, I wouldn't work for you. I truly would not, because I would be that employee that will go to lunch and not just come back and have you all thinking that I'm somewhere dead in a ditch because I didn't left because you were disrespectful and rude. You have to learn how to have a conversation with someone to where they're feeling uplifted and positive in the end. Now, it's a skill. It takes time. I'm telling you this now as 2024 me, because me years ago could not have this type of conversation. So anyone that I had a negative conversation and I didn't know these, I apologize because I wasn't quite polished at the time. But now I know how to have these conversations and I do think and correct me if I'm wrong someone that I don't have negative conversations with people. I feel like every conversation that I have serves a purpose and no one feels demeaned in it. No one feels like I was just disrespectful, because that is a thing for me and I never want someone to leave that way. So hopefully I have, you know, gotten better over the years. But we all know someone we've all encountered someone probably within the last two days that just doesn't know how to have a conversation with someone. Please send them this episode and tell them they need to listen on how to have conversations and on that note we'll be right back.
Speaker 1:I love sharing information with educators and program administrators. I have had so many successes, but also so many failures in my education tenure. I want leaders to know what not to do, but better than that, what to do. So I decided to write a helpful guide Best Practices for Center Program and Activity Directors. It's short and to the point. It's a compass to guide education leaders. These best practices will give you a foundation to lead your school program or organization. You can find Best Practices for Center Program and Activity Directors by Jared Cuff on Amazon or Amazon Kindle. We are back. I came across this Reddit article because it's a conversation that I think we've had in the field multiple times and I wanted to bring it to you all.
Speaker 1:I have a question regarding what your thoughts are on babysitting children you look after. I have worked with primary age children before during the school holidays and the company I worked for strictly forbid babysitting children who attend the program. Now I work at an early childhood center and it seems to almost be the norm for staff to babysit children. I have been approached by parents asking if I could babysit their children. I understand from the parent's perspective why they would approach us, as we are familiar with their children and also have the relevant first aid, certification and qualifications. I personally feel uncomfortable babysitting in general, as I have never done it before. However, I'm wondering what are your general thoughts or consensus regarding babysitting children from the center you work at?
Speaker 1:There is a lot to unpack here. Work at, there is a lot to unpack here. So let's talk about babysitting. I am not for it because I'm a professional and I know you're probably going like wait, wait, what? Let me explain this in more detail.
Speaker 1:I, first off, am not hating on anyone's side hustle of babysitting. I'm really not. I mean, you're out here babysitting this child, this child, this child. You are all the way out here with an illegitimate LLC and I'm not hating on it. You're not paying taxes. They're paying you under the table. You know what? You're making sure that they're not paying you on Zelle because you don't want that $600 to show, so the government can't tax it. I get it. You out here have a whole babysitting illegal circle ring going on. I'm not hating on it, do you boo? But my issue is, as a professional, doesn't this dilute what we do? You know, we've taken many of trainings. We have certifications. We have gone. We've taken many of trainings, we have certifications. We have gone to college. We, some of us have dedicated our life to this field and for someone to come to you and say, oh, do you want to babysit for me? It comes off as disrespectful To me. It does, and I'm going to use a comparison of I've had. I think I've. I've told you all before that I have taught you know K through 12 as well. So I've taught elementary, middle and high. Never once when I taught high school, someone came to me and said can you babysit my child for me? Never once in middle school did someone ever ask me can you babysit for me? Or did I ever hear? Let me be specific Never once. When I taught elementary, someone said to me can you babysit for me? I had never heard a conversation with a teacher where someone said can you babysit for me? So why is that a thing in early childhood education? Because they do not see what we do as a professional occupation, so they demean it by saying let me babysit for you. It is, or can you babysit for us? It is our responsibility to show the professionalism in what we do. I'm not hating on your side, hustle, I'm not. And I heard someone once say well, I don't think that is right that you're stopping us from getting money because you don't pay us enough, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. First off, let's be honest. Nobody gets paid what they really are worth, if we're going to be honest about it. So, but yes, our wages in the field are low. Like I said, I'm not hating on what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you all a story. So years ago, when I was a director, I was having a conversation with a family member, with a parent, and within that conversation she started telling me things about my school and I'm like, oh, ok, she's like, yeah, because so-and-so wasn't here, because they were at so-and-so and, and then this happened. So I'm thinking like how the hell she know this? Like, how do you have this insider information? Like, who was out here running their mouth and talking about my school in these streets? Well, after my you know investigation work of you know where in the world is Carmen, san Diego Because I was going to figure out who said this, figure out who it was, and what I found out was this teacher was babysitting for the family.
Speaker 1:As I'm talking to the teacher, I kind of felt bad for her a little bit, because she said what happened was she wasn't trying to say anything. She basically felt cornered by the parent. She's at the house. She said they were about to leave, the family was about to leave, and she's like oh, by the way, I seen that so-and-so wasn't at work and she was, you know, innocently, like you know. Uh, you know they wasn't. Well, where was she at? Because she was gone last week too.
Speaker 1:Now the parent is almost pummeling her for information from her perspective, from her perspective. Why I felt bad for her was because you are now in her home, you're on her turf, so there's nowhere for you to go, there's just you're kind of stuck. There's nowhere for you to go, girl, you can run, but you can't hide because you are now cornered in her home. So you're kind of being forced to answer her questions, and if you don't now, it's awkward. So now she's hitting you up for all the information that she wants to know or other parents want to know that they've talked about, and it's like well, girl, you in my house and you have to answer my questions now. And that's another thing that can happen when you know those relationships are preyed upon by parents.
Speaker 1:They don't do it intentionally, it's human nature, we all do it. We're like well, where was so-and-so, why ain't I here? But it's like nah, girl, and I'm paying you. I'm paying you directly. I'm not paying the company which turns around and gives you a check. I'm paying you out my pocket. I'm paying you this illegal $10 an hour that I'm about to giveitting. I don't think that we should be babysitting unless we're creating a whole legitimate LLC company, where that could be a little different, because it's still seen as professional. But they're never going to see us as true professionals if we keep doing things like this and demeaning what we do. So you let me know what you think, if you agree with me, and if you don't agree with me, I'm totally fine with that as well. Let me know why you don't agree with me.
Speaker 1:I think those are healthy and great conversations to have so that we can see other perspectives, so we can go forward within the field. And, like I always say, if you know someone that may need to hear this, please send it to them to start a great conversation this week. I want you all to not be giving melatonin and drugs to children. I want that for the entire world, because I just still can't move past that. That article is just stuck with me. But that is what I want from you all this week.
Speaker 1:I want you all to have positive and productive conversations and to think about those six pillars of how to have a conversation, so that every conversation that you do have is productive and not a waste of your time. And do not, please, don't be out here babysitting these people's children. Please don't Like recommend them to carecom, recommend them to somebody else that you may know, because my thing is, I am not a 15 year old and don't pay me that ten dollars an hour that you would pay a 15 year old to do the job that I do at almost 40. Don't do that. And other than that, you guys have a great week and we'll see you next time. That's it for today. If you like this episode, it would mean so much to me. If you left a rating review and subscribe to the show, I'd love to hear from you. You can visit my website, which is in the show notes, to contact me, and I hope you have a great rest of your week and speak to you all soon.