An Arrest at Daycare Has Parents Wondering
A child care worker at a local daycare was recently arrested during school hours. The charges were all sex related and included kids under the age of 16. It is one of the moments that sends shock waves through a community and shakes parents to their core.
The intensity of disbelief and anger can really alter how you see the world and affect how our kids perceive the safety of their environment. Most parents feel angry that a place they chose to send their kids to, a place they believed was safe, was possibly not. (Note: Charges have been laid but the worker has not been found guilty).
There are so many reasons to hate that this is going on, so many reasons to fear for the kids, to feel compassion for the victims and the staff. Social workers were sent to the school immediately to provide support and discuss things like inappropriate touching.
And the buzzing on the schoolyard goes on: the usual cries for a public lynching; calls for the firing of administrators and general dismay at the handling of the situation. This also serves to support an undercurrent of bias against men working in daycare centres. "He always gave me the creeps, why would he want to work with kids anyways?"
I hate that. I hate that the people who always felt that a chubby, shy man (whom the kids adored) was a threat, are possibly right in this case. I hate that the people who always assume that there is some kind of sexual predator around the corner have been vindicated. I don't like to think that the world is evil; I don't want my kids to fear men who choose to work with young children or to worry that every stranger is going to abduct them.
I teach my kids to be safe but not fearful. But this situation has me wondering if maybe I am wrong.
Have you ever wondered about your child's teacher? Have you spoken to your kids about innapropriate touching?
Want more? Last year I was writing about the great work the Breakfast Clubs of Canada does and posted a recipe for banana french toast.
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