A preschool in California is in hot water after a teacher allegedly tied up a 2-year-old girl for refusing to take a nap. The little girl's mom found out thanks to a photo the teacher took that was being passed around a gathering of current and former teachers, and you can just imagine the look on her face when she saw her toddler's wrists and ankles bound with masking tape!
Cops are investigating, so it looks like this teacher's disturbing nap strategies will be dealt with. But while we're on the subject, why is a daycare worker trying to FORCE a child to nap anyway?
The parenting experts tell us napping should be a pleasant experience for kids. If they're not into it, you're not going to make it happen with force ... especially not masking tape 'round the ankles and wrists.
And yet, there are mandatory nap times at myriad daycares, preschools, even kindergartens in the United States. Some are lax about it -- they require children be quiet for a certain period of time, but they don't expect everyone to actually close their eyes.
Then there are the maniacs. They try to force a one-size-fits-all nap time on a room full of little kids, and they get angry when the little kids push back.
Of course they push back! Because kids are different.
Some of my friends reported their kids were still conking out mid-afternoon right up through age 5. My kid, on the other hand, just up and quit naps as a toddler. It didn't matter what I said or did, she was not interested in an afternoon siesta. The more I fought, the more she dug in her heels. Fast forward to age 7, and she still sleeps very much on her own terms. She'll go to bed at 8 as directed, but she won't go to sleep until much later.
Hearing this horror story out of the Centerpointe Presbyterian Church preschool, I can only imagine what would have happened to her in a daycare that demanded she nap.
Would she have been that kid tied down by a frustrated facility worker? Or worse, one of the kids whose sippy cups were dosed with sleeping medicine at another California daycare last week?
I'd like to think that most daycare workers have more common sense and compassion than these women, but I shudder to think what other questionable methods are being used to "force" kids to nap when they're just not tired.
Do you think it's OK for daycares to force kids to nap? What would you do if they did it to your child?
Image via YouAreMyCookie/Flickr
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Comments 34
I wouldnt have called the police because she would be no where to be found after I get done with her.
When I worked at a daycare, kids were required to stay on their cots and be quiet if they didn't want to sleep. If they were good I would let them get a book and look through it during nap time. I don't think they should be forced to take naps, and it would never occur to me to dose someone else's kid with meds (not that I do it with mine) or use duct tape. wth is wrong with people?
It isn't up to the day care whether a child must have nap/rest time - that comes from the government so unless you want to fight that battle, get over it. No, not every child naps - but they SHOULD be taught how to respect nap time and be quiet. Not to mention that nap time is the teacher's planning time and also her time to clean up the room for the next half of the day. I have had two year old children go down for naps in some of the weirdest ways and I've had some who don't nap (like my own 2 1/2 year old) who I kept quiet with books or Crayola's Magic Wonder marker sets and the paper. Sounds like to me, this teacher snapped.
this is exactly the reason why my kids won't ever end up in daycare............PERIOD!!!
these bunch of flipping sickos!!
and i'm sure that there are staff there that just turn their back because they don't "want any trouble" or they don't want to be that rat that tattles on everyone. ugh!!
people eeeerrrrkkkkk me to no end!!
Im just thankful that my sons daycare has a laxed nap schedule. They pretty much let the kids tell them when they are ready to nap. I went to pick up my son in the middle of HIS naptime, And they had all the other kids playing in the play area and a worker sitting in the room where my son was the only one sleeping. :) Made me happy to know that my son was well taken care of.