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Forum -> Working Women

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amother

Coffee

Thu, May 07 2015, 12:31 am

(Wasn't sure what category to put this under).

I picked up my son from babysitter today and there were 2 kids left there. The location is in a school. The Morah has to leave by a certain time and she left when I was on my way out. I realized there were 2 kids still in the room and as she left she said the mother will be there in a min as she is in the building and coming to get the kids.
I waited a minute and saw the mother did not come. I realized the 2 kids were alone in the babysitting room age 2 and under). I was also now locked out of the building. And I saw cleaning men working in the hallway not far from the room.

If you were there - would you have stayed ot would you have left and said they're OK as the mother should be there soon?

I didn't get frantic but I waited there worried because I had no idea if the kids were OK in that room. I also was scared of who knows what the cleaning guys could do if they went in.
About ten minutes later the mother came from within the building and let me in, and did not seem worried.

Obviously I felt the right thing was to stay even though I had to go pick up my other child. But I fear to know how many ppl actually would have taken the responsibility.... Or not. So I'm really curious, would YOU have stayed?

FranticFrummie

Thu, May 07 2015, 12:36 am

Was this a public school or a private school? In public schools the janitors, and anyone else who is anywhere near children, has to pass a thorough background check.

amother

Aquamarine

Thu, May 07 2015, 12:37 am

I would start looking for new babysitting arrangements for my child post haste. If she leaves other people's children alone, what's to say the babysitter isn't leaving your child alone?

And I would have stayed.

SRB

Thu, May 07 2015, 1:07 am

I would have stayed and started looking for a new babysitter. IMO any chid under 2 yrs should not be left alone in a room - the mother being "somewhere" in the building is too far away. I wonder how old the children are.

Miri7

Thu, May 07 2015, 2:02 am

I would have stayed, banged on the door for the janitors to let me in and sat with the kids until they were picked up.

It is crazy to leave two very small children alone in a room for an indeterminate amount of time. It is the morah's job to stay until she hands the kids over to the parent or person picking up. That's why they get so annoyed when parents are late - because they cannot leave until all kids are picked up.

I would start looking for new childcare and report the incident to the person in charge.

Sadie

Thu, May 07 2015, 6:04 am

You did the right thing but please please report this incident, this is so dangerous. The first thing I think of is what if there were a fire and no one could get to the kids in time.
It's incredibly frustrating as a childcare worker when parents don't respect your time and force you to stay late, but there is no justification for this.

myself

Thu, May 07 2015, 6:29 am

Seriously I'm shocked! shock

The mother's shouldn't be late but - How can a morah be so irresponsible?

scrltfr

Thu, May 07 2015, 9:51 am

The morah and the mother are at fault. But I wouldn't leave my kids there anymore

sitting

Thu, May 07 2015, 9:54 am

I wouldve stayed and definitely report to whoever runs the show there....

rowo

Thu, May 07 2015, 9:59 am

Wow I'm totally in shock.
I would not leave my child there anymore after seeing that carers attitude to child safety.
I would definitely have stayed or taken the two kids to their mother if she really was there in the building.
You definitely need to speak to someone about this. I would imagine that no matter where you are located what happened is totally illegal.
Most child care centres that I'm familiar with have policies for children who are picked up late. Often involving the parents paying extra and the children being placed under the supervision of another adult if the teacher has to leave.

seeker

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:01 am

If the morah must leave at a certain time then there should be some other staff member in charge of STAYING WITH any children who are picked up late. You said it's in a school? They could pull an assistant from another class, a secretary, a nurse, whatever. Stuff happens, sure pickups should be on time but I've had situations where it really truly couldn't be helped (once I got stuck in an insane traffic situation, FIVE minutes away from the school so I was really running on time and it was much too late to arrange for someone else to get my kids, and all of a sudden they blocked off a bridge with me in my car on it. Go figure! B"H it cleared up not long after but this is what I mean by stuff happens.)

Amarante

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:17 am

I would not use this facility.

While a parent shouldn't be late, sometimes people are late for reasons completely beyond their control. There should be some kind of plan the day care has if the morah has such an inflexible schedule that she really can not wait for two minutes while a mother who is "theoretically" in the building gets to the room.

There is no way a child in daycare - especially children UNDER TWO YEARS OLD should be left in a locked room.

I would tell the administration why I am pulling my child out. What if you had been delayed for a few minutes and it was your child who had been left locked alone in a room?

While the janitors might not be dangerous people, they certainly are not the people who are paid to tend to the needs of the children. Did they even know there were children left there that they were "supposed" to be watching?

amother

Teal

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:21 am

The question is did the Morah call the mother and the mother said to leave the kids because she will be there in a moment. If that is the case then it is really on the mother. The Morah had to leave.
If the Morah just left knowing the mother will be right there without asking if it is ok to leave then I would look for another place.
If you were late and the Morah didnt get in touch with you do you think she would of just left?

That being said I would of stayed to make sure the kids were ok what if chas vshalom a kids swallowed something and was choking?

Sometimes things to us look very different then they really are.
My daughter was running a backyard camp, there was a sidewalk and then grass and then the street. An aunt came to pick up her nephew and noticed a couple of 4 yrs olds alone on the sidewalk and the counselors in the garage. She got so angry that no one was watching the kids that she told her sister to pull her kid out of the camp because there was a lack of supervision.
What really happened was that one of the kids was a kid from that house who is allowed to be out by themselves and another was a neighbor also who was allowed to be out.
So I learned to not jump to any conclusions until I know all the facts.

seeker

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:35 am

amother wrote:

As a teacher, I will not do something I believe to be unsafe no matter what the mother tells me. If the mother has a problem with that, let them pull their kid out. Leaving toddlers alone is not OK at all. Ever. 4-year-olds I don't approve either but with someone nearby and you know your kid, we could have an argument about it. Toddlers there is not even anything to disagree about. No way, no how.

Grandma 1

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:59 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Was this a public school or a private school? In public schools the janitors, and anyone else who is anywhere near children, has to pass a thorough background check.

You've got to be kidding! Of course. odds are that these janitors are fine, trustworthy people, but it's naive to count on that, even on the remote chance that they aren't. Other than that, there are many other potential dangers of leaving these little children alone.

amother

Green

Thu, May 07 2015, 11:10 am

I would have stayed and waited for the mother to arrive. I would not have left two children under the age of two alone even for half a second. I would definitely look for another daycare for my children...AND if the teacher is on such a tight schedule that she cannot wait a few minutes for every parent to arrive, she should not be working in a daycare without an assistant.

marina

Thu, May 07 2015, 1:35 pm

I don't get it. Most daycares have a person who stays late for the late moms and then the daycare charges them extra fees for every ten minutes or whatever.

And yes, I agree with the rest- pull your kid out and consider reporting the morah.

Beyla

Thu, May 07 2015, 5:08 pm

I can't get over the ages of those kids! shock

2 and younger??

As a mora I can tell it's even a problem to go to the Bathroom leaving them alone in the class.

Barbara

Thu, May 07 2015, 5:19 pm

marina wrote:

What she said.

If the morah left as you were leaving with your DS, she may well have left your son there alone had you been 2 or 3 minutes later.

amother

Coffee

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:22 pm

I spoke to the Morah and told her how upse

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