Stumbling Through Work
Working in education is to stumble through your everyday! We love what we do, but staff, families, policies, regulations and sometimes even the children make us quit everyday then come back the next day. Just remember, you are not in this alone.
Stumbling Through Work
Preschool Blunders: Locked Babies and Naptime Dilemmas
In this episode of Stumbling Through Work, we unravel an incident in Philadelphia where three daycare workers face charges after leaving a seven-month-old baby locked inside a closed facility. Shifting gears, we examine how the underlying culture and climate of a school can drastically shape the educational experience. Finally, we tackle a policy of keeping lights on during naptime. Join me in considering these critical issues and 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:Today, I'm going to bring you a disturbing story from Philadelphia. Three workers have been charged after a seven-month-old baby was left inside a closed daycare. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said I read that correctly A seven-month-old they. It lists. Three individuals are charged with endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. The incident happened on February 1st at the daycare and it lists the address, but we're not going to do that. We're better than that. The DA's office said the child's parents arrived at the daycare for pickup at 5.30pm and found it closed with a locked gate, even though the daycare was usually closed at 6pm. The fire department was called in to lift the gate and rescue the child, who has been left alone in the dark. The DA's office said, quote it was weird that they were closed because they're usually open. So the first thing that came to mind was they gave him to someone or to the wrong person, unquote. The baby's mother her name told Action News in an interview last month.
Speaker 1:That's the whole story and I have lots of follow-up questions, as I'm sure that you do. Well, one of the first things was there's actually a link. So I watched the video and they showed where the center was. So to understand the center, it kind of was in a shopping was not, kind of it was in a shopping complex and it almost looked like a storefront like you would just walk into, like a convenience store. So it had the pull down gates. So they actually pulled down the gate and locked it at the bottom like one of the security ones so that you know no one could break in. It had one of those on it. So when you see it, that part of the story makes more sense. But I have so many questions I'm going to put on my I don't even know what hat I'm going to put on. There's so many I could put on. Okay, I'm going to put on my current position hat of corporate member facility hat thing. My first thing is was the child okay? So let's be serious with this real quick. I want to make sure that that child was fine, but according to the news and when I watched the video clip, everybody seemed to be fine. So I can let you guys know that that was fine.
Speaker 1:Now, who was in charge? Whose antennas was in charge? Because there has to be a designated person that was in charge. But let me go back to the article. It lists three individuals, their first and last names, all their government is there, but one of them is 35. She's 35. Another one is 23. And another one is 22. So you have a 35-year-old, a 23-year-old and a 22-year-old.
Speaker 1:To help give me context, I have to create a story so that this makes sense. So I'm going to assume, based off of their age, that the 35 year old was the person in charge. I could be wrong, but I'm just going to assume from the story that's going on in my head, because I have to make sense of things, that the 35-year-old was in charge and there's a 23-year-old and a 22-year-old, okay, so the 35-year-old is an assistant manager and she's upset because she'll never be promoted to a center director because she has a bad attitude and she never does all her tasks list correctly. So that's the 35 year old I told you I had to give stories. The 23 year old she's been there for like two years but they asked her to work on a shift that she never works on so she didn't know how to close the school properly. And then the 22-year-old they just started a week ago, so they're still kind of learning. They don't quite know, they're new to childcare and that's how the story is going to go.
Speaker 1:For it to make sense in my brain, one of the first things in corporate brain of mine is what systems are in place that were ignored? And maybe brain of mine is what systems are in place that were ignored and maybe are there systems in place? It's the next question because in my mind I can't fathom how you lock a child in a school and just walk out. In my, my world, whoever's closing that manager that is responsible is going through each room before they leave. So a system in place would be before you leave. You need to go into every room. You need to make sure that emergency doors are locked, so you are physically walking in each room and checking. And while you're doing that, you know there's other things that you're doing. You know checking the trash, making sure there's no diapers, nothing hazardous, nothing left on, whatever it may be. But you were doing several things in that room. That's where my brain goes. For systems in place, now there are three.
Speaker 1:There's just more parts of the story Like did all three of them leave at the same time? Did two of them leave and then one stay? Like the story is very vague and there was no follow-up for it. I kind of want to know why they went home early. So if you close at 6, but the person that got there to get their child was at 5.30, which means they had to have left, let's give them 5.25 at least, because if all the lights are off, you didn't pull down the metal security gate. You are out of the parking lot. That means by 5.25,. You was out of the parking lot. That means by 525, you was out of there. So 525 pm on February 1st I don't even know what that is. Y'all. Just look that on the calendar. In my mind it's a Friday night, because I think they were going to the club. I don't know if they really were or not, but it just makes sense in my brain. Oh no, it was a Thursday night. Thursday night, club, ladies in free, so there we go. So they were going to the club getting ready. That's why they were ready to go. See how all this makes sense in my brain. Because it just makes none. So I have to connect the dots. They left the school early at at least 525.
Speaker 1:From a business aspect, that is 35 minutes where phones aren't being answered. Families could be coming in trying to tour, asking for. You're losing money at that point, even if you let the other two go and you had one person with you, one teacher, one manager, for security purposes, so you're not going out in the dark by yourself. And it's February, so I know it's dark at 5.45, sorry, at six o'clock. So it's dark at least if you have one other person. But y'all.
Speaker 1:That baby was quiet. I mean that baby had to be in my story, in my mind the baby was asleep, because I can't fathom a baby crying and making noises and you walk out. So that baby was quiet. That baby was quiet, so it had to be sleep in my mind. Because, if not, that was a quiet baby, because I have never seen or experienced a quiet seven-month-old. I mean, developmentally, they should be making noises. They should be doing something at seven months. If you know, they're developmentally where they need to be at. But once again, I don't know all the parts of the story, but that baby was quiet. I'm just thankful that the child was fine. But in the dark, like I, just I just can't understand how that even happened. As we sit here together and we go through this, just keep thinking about how the story you know how the story just unfolded and 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 afterschoolrichment 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 Jarek Huff is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. Welcome back.
Speaker 1:As you guys know, I do a lot of coaching for administrators. One of my favorite things to do it's my calling and I was speaking with someone the other day and I asked them the question what is the culture and climate of your school? That's one of the first questions I always ask people. If I don't know you, if someone randomly asks me questions like I'm having this problem, I'm having this problem and this is going on, my first thing is well, what is the culture of your school and what is your climate? Now, most people just give me this glazed over look in their eyes when I ask that question, because they have no idea what I'm even talking about. But those are two very important questions. So let's break it down.
Speaker 1:The culture of your school, your culture, is your shared beliefs. It's your values, it's your practices. It's just the way things are. For example, let's say if you have this great, good culture in your school, you know everyone feels respected, there's great communication, everyone's always happy, etc. Etc. Etc. If you have a bad culture in your school, everyone always feels nasty. People just walk around being rude and disrespectful for no reason. They could just give two shits and that's the energy they give off. That is your culture, it is the atmosphere, it is the environment. That is your culture, it is the atmosphere, it is the environment.
Speaker 1:A lot of the times, I can walk into a school and I'm sure a lot of you all can too. And you walk in and you feel that energy and you're like something is not right. There's a culture that's set, that is negative, and sometimes you can walk into a school and you're like, oh my gosh, it feels so great in here, like I want to go learn something, pull out them scissors. You can feel that energy, you can feel, you can just feel the culture of it, and it doesn't have to be necessarily for school. I think we've all been in places where we've gone into other businesses, other establishments, and we can just feel it. Or we kind of just start observing things and we're like something's not right. You don't have to be like so well in tune, you just kind of just know.
Speaker 1:You can tell the culture and climate of the culture of a school. Now your climate is, it's like your current state, it's how staff feels day to day. It's I like to think of it more like the regular actions of a person. So they're similar. Your climate and culture are similar, but it is different. So, like with your climate, I like to look at in a way of describing as action. So does your staff come in and are they happy? Do they come in? And not only are they happy, but are they ready to engage with the children? You see the action that they're doing. Or do they come in with complaints? Are they coming in griping with so many problems when they come in? Do you just wish they would take their complaining ass home? Those are climates, those are the actions that people are doing, and they are interconnected. They both kind of feed off of each other.
Speaker 1:This is where I like to start, because you can't make any significant changes if your culture and climate are trash. If the culture of the school is trash, if the climate is trash, you're not. You can't change anything. You can't. No matter how many times you see things and say I'm going to fix this, it's going to be. Someone not on board is going to be always a problem because you have that culture. But don't give up. There is a way of fixing it. The way of fixing it is owning your shit. That's like one of my favorite expressions and if anyone knows me and has worked with me, I say that all the time. I'm like own your shit and move on. I should get that put on a shirt. You know what? I should start selling merchandise that says own your shit and move on. I love that expression because that's all you can do at the end of the day. You have to own it and then move on.
Speaker 1:No-transcript, which a lot of the times people do. They understand that it is a problem. They do see it as a problem. But secondly, you have to acknowledge it with me, because one I'm going to call that shit out. We're not going to ignore this like it doesn't exist. I'm calling that out.
Speaker 1:But the hardest one is having to acknowledge that to your staff Is having to acknowledge that to your staff. That's when you have to take a moment To be humble and admit where you're wrong, and a lot of people have problems doing that. Your staff will never be receptive To any changes that you make. Until you own your shit, until you acknowledge our culture is not the way that it needs to be, your day-to-day interactions are not the way that they need to be. You have to acknowledge it out loud for everyone to do, and there's two ways of doing that Staff meeting with everyone and then one-on-ones. If you're not doing both of those, you're not going to make any progress. You want to do it in a full staff meeting so that everyone can hear it. Everyone needs to hear the exact same message, and it can go something like this hey, so right now there's a culture going on within the school that I do not like. We are having problem A and problem B and problem C. I take ownership of this because I'm the leader and it's my responsibility to change it, and so I'm coming to you letting you all know that what we're doing is not acceptable and we have to be able to move forward from it. Now see how easy that was. That was simple, to the point. It wasn't long drawn out. I acknowledged what the problem was and then we're moving on, because people need to hear you say there's a problem, but to just try to switch gears like it just didn't happen, no, no, no, people are not going to fall for that one. You have to say it. No, no, no, people are not going to fall for that one. You have to say it, and everyone needs to hear the exact same message.
Speaker 1:Now, when you do one-on-ones with your staff, it's kind of like a reset. I had to do that with one of my schools recently. There was a couple problems going on. Some things happened in there I did not like, and so we ended up. You know there was a staff meeting. I wasn't there for that one, but some things were reset and said throughout that process.
Speaker 1:But I was part of the one-on-ones where we brought in every teacher and had a conversation with them and just acknowledging some things and asking questions. So what I did was they came in. I'm like, hey, how are you today? So we just wanted to have a one-on-one conversation with you. Nothing's wrong, just want to be clear about that. Nothing's wrong. We just want to talk to you. We just want to ask you how you're doing, what are some problems that you're seeing, what are some of the solutions that you have for them. Just a general conversation. And then after that I actually went over some more things that we've seen that needed to change. Really great conversation.
Speaker 1:So people felt that there was this big staff meeting so that they all heard the exact same message. So it wasn't like, well, they told me this, but did they tell you? No, all of y'all humans were in the same room, so y'all heard the exact same thing. So there's no reason to go discuss it anywhere else. It was said what was said.
Speaker 1:Then the one-on-one is kind of your follow-up to have a more intimate conversation of problems that are directly attached to that person, to show them that you care, that you're listening, all those things, because you know if you do that in this big staff meeting, it can just run away. You have to do those to change the culture and climate of your school. So I want you all to take time to think of your school or your program. Is it what you want it to be right now or does it need improvement? There is no school alive, alive like as a person. There is no school that is functioning, that is perfect. It's just impossible. It's always going to be some shit. It's just kind of what shit do you want to deal with? There's always something that we need to improve on, that thing that you need to improve on. Be open and honest with your staff and have that conversation about it and just say, okay, this is what I'm noticing as a problem as a team, let's you know this is what's about to happen and how we're going to change it. Once they hear that now they're going to be receptive to change and to the problems that you have to fix, they're going to be there for you. Now they're hearing for you. So that's how I always start coaching and working with people, so I want you to think about your problems and 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 by Jared Huff on Amazon or Amazon Kindle.
Speaker 1:On today's Reddit, it is a new policy opinion. I work for Blank Learning Academy, a large-ish chain daycare in the southeast US, and on Friday afternoon the VP sent out a mass email saying quote Due to increased naptime incidents, lights in the classrooms must remain on at all times. Unquote. Does anyone else's center do this? Any tips on how to get my kids to sleep with the lights on? Dear Reddit user, what the hell is a nap time incident? That's my first question. What is a nap time incident? What is going on that your VP of operations or VP of education or your VP of fill in the blank had to send an email out that said, due to nap time incidents, like what the hell are y'all in there having like baby fights, what is going on? But I'm just very curious. But to answer her question, I personally believe in leaving lights on.
Speaker 1:Now, I know lots of teachers, and even today, that do not agree with me. But I'm going to tell you why. Because I'm looking at this from a corporate situation, from the teacher's aspect. Yes, you all, I used to be a teacher, so I get it. But even as a teacher, I never did it. But I'm going to explain why in a minute.
Speaker 1:But I understand why most teachers are like turn them lights off them. Kids need to get to sleep, they need to be comfortable, they need to whatever, whatever, whatever. My corporate brain and I think I've always had like a corporate leadership brain said no, turn them lights on. Turn them lights on so we can see what is happening in that dark. Because we need to see One thing about children when they're sleepy, they're going to sleep.
Speaker 1:They're not us like adults. They don't need the fan on medium, they don't need a nightlight on, they don't need full pitch black darkness. They don't need all the things that we need for our old element formed bodies. They don't need any of that. Them kids will go to sleep when they're tired, period. I don't care if they're in the car of that, them kids that go to sleep when they're tired, period. I don't care if they're in the car, they're gonna go to sleep. I don't care if you're in circle. How many times y'all been in circle time and y'all done seen that baby over there, tired, falling asleep? They don't need all of that. We put what we want as adults on the children but, like I said, I can understand why teachers feel that way. It's part of the evolution. As you grow, you learn, you know, you start realizing things, you reflect on things that you know we do as adult and put on children. But I digress, that's a whole nother conversation.
Speaker 1:Leave them damn lights on. And the reason why is because I'm looking at it from a safety aspect. One, if your lights are on, you can see what's happening. If I have cameras in the classroom, the cameras are able to see more clearly and you know a lot of random shit happens at nap time and things like children scratch themselves, children peeing on themselves. You just can't see any of that. And even making sure children aren't putting the blanket over their heads, all of those things that they do. You're able to see that with the lights on.
Speaker 1:But here's my other thing. Outside of a safety aspect, when the lights are dark, I mean there are more safety aspects, like a teacher walking by and trips over a child on a cot because you didn't see them. Or you're trying to step over one kid and didn't see another kid and you end up stepping on another kid. So many things can happen when the lights are off. But for me, even with the teachers, they can't do their job accordingly in the dark, because I've worked with hundreds of teachers and I love their excuses. When the lights are off, they're like well, you know, I couldn't get my cleaning done today because the lights the lights was off first off. Why did I just have a very southern accent when I did that? I don't know why it is so applicable at the moment, but it does impede teachers from doing what they have to do. They can't clean their rooms effectively, they can't do whatever prep that they need to do. They need to be able to see what they're doing and, like I said, those children will fall asleep. And here's the other thing when the lights go off us as adults, we get sleepy, and the last thing that I need is for a teacher to be sleepy.
Speaker 1:Let me tell y'all a true story back in the day. So I once had this assistant manager in a classroom and she was doing a lunch break for a classroom and she was doing a lunch break for a teacher, y'all. She was in there, knocked out, the lights were down low. See, this is why I don't like the lights down low. I don't like the vibe and the mood that it's setting. So the lights is down low. The little lullabies is playing. The teacher wasullabies is playing. The teacher was patting the child's back and I'm assuming it just put her head down Slowly.
Speaker 1:What made it worse was, first off, if you fall asleep in the classroom, that's an automatic fire, immediately. There's no coming back. That means you are not supervising a child. You don't know what's going on in that classroom. You don't know if they're in there sword fighting. You don't know if they're in there running around. You don't know what's happening in there. So automatic, you know termination.
Speaker 1:But this is what made it worse and which pissed me off. One of the teachers walked by and seen the manager sleep. Now, instead of that teacher saying, oh my gosh, let me go get my director, which would be the good thing to do, this teacher decides to go tell another teacher so that other teacher can go and see this manager sleep. And then that one goes and tells another. So at this point everybody knows that this manager is in their sleep. Then, after every teacher didn't walk by, I mean, and it got messy because they were stepping in for each other, like, oh, look at Ms So-and-so in their sleep. Like it got real messy y'all it was not in the mirror. So by the time it gets to administration, until it gets to us, everyone in the mirror. So by the time it gets to administration to it gets to us, everyone in the school knows.
Speaker 1:So I, I mean at this point I, I have to make an example out of you. I have to fire you on the spot. Like I couldn't even, like you know, let's talk about it later. No, I had to go in there, be real awkward, pull you out and like, not fire you in front of everybody, but everyone know you got fired. You had to come into the conversation and I had to pull you in and not fire you in front of everybody. But everyone know you got fired. You had to come into the conversation and I had to pull you in and suspend you through investigation. I had to make a whole production about it because everybody knew at this point Moral of the story is don't fall asleep.
Speaker 1:No, the true moral of the story is leave them lights on so that the teachers can see what's going on. They're not getting sleepy, and then babies will go to sleep. Like I said, when kids are tired they're going to go to sleep. So don't fret about it, don't be concerned. After about day three they're going to be like oh okay, you get the mood on with the music and they know it's nap time music. And if you have a consistent routine going on every single day, they know exactly what it is and they will get used to it. I've done it for years, dear Reddit user, but on that note, that's all that I have to say to that person. My call to action is going to be very clear and easy to understand this week Do not leave a child in the school by themselves ever.
Speaker 1:Never thought that I would have to say that out loud, but here I am saying it out loud today. Think about your culture and climate within your schools, making sure that it is a conducive environment and if it's not, own your shit and move on. And it's okay for them babies to sleep with the lights on, it is safer for everybody, everyone can see, and then babies will get used to it. Think about those things for this week. I want you to do all of those and other than that, I will see you all or talk to you all next week. All right, bye. 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.
