Child Being Bully At School

[catinthebox]

one of the kids from the site, has been bullying by another child from her school, when she first came here like two months ago. She had told me about this issue and i gave her the first advice was to speak up and tell the teachers and parents about it. She then told me that mom knows this and that the school and teachers don't do anything about it. So, today one of our newest worker came to me and told me that the bully has now been harming her by putting her hands on her neck.

My question is, what do we do from a daycare worker perspective to help this issue go away since it has now elevated to physical harm? From what she told me, mom already know but i am not too sure if she knews that now it has gotten to this point. I was thinking of telling mom or dad today about it but forgot.

[Pestle]

CA law strangely doesn't make every resident a mandatory reporter of child abuse, but if you work at a licensed day care center you are a mandatory reporter:

10) A licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed community care or child day care facility

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=11165.7

Physical abuse by another child is beyond bullying. See this page for "Obligations of Mandated Reporters", about halfway down:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/ap/childabusereportingguide.asp

I would get with your center's director ASAP. That person should have been trained about how to handle this. I have never been in this situation and don't know if there's a way to handle it through the schools or the parents before escalating it to the police, but you should be aware of the law.

[catinthebox]

CA law strangely doesn't make every resident a mandatory reporter of child abuse, but if you work at a licensed day care center you are a mandatory reporter:

10) A licensee, an administrator, or an employee of a licensed community care or child day care facility

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=11165.7

Physical abuse by another child is beyond bullying. See this page for "Obligations of Mandated Reporters", about halfway down:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/ap/childabusereportingguide.asp

I would get with your center's director ASAP. That person should have been trained about how to handle this. I have never been in this situation and don't know if there's a way to handle it through the schools or the parents before escalating it to the police, but you should be aware of the law.

Will find out more about it from the child and then will report it to my boss.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

one of the kids from the site, has been bullying by another child from her school, when she first came here like two months ago. She had told me about this issue and i gave her the first advice was to speak up and tell the teachers and parents about it. She then told me that mom knows this and that the school and teachers don't do anything about it. So, today one of our newest worker came to me and told me that the bully has now been harming her by putting her hands on her neck.

My question is, what do we do from a daycare worker perspective to help this issue go away since it has now elevated to physical harm? From what she told me, mom already know but i am not too sure if she knews that now it has gotten to this point. I was thinking of telling mom or dad today about it but forgot.

Is the bullying happening at school and she is telling you about it when she gets to daycare? If it is happening at school, the parent needs to step in and speak with the school. Putting your hands on someone in school is considered assault, so if tey are having a hard time getting a response from teh school, they need to go higher up and find out what rights they have to get her moved or in a safe environment.

If this is happening at daycare, you need to tell your director and they need to handle it asap. Putting your hands on another person is NOT OKAY. I am glad this child has you as an advocate and I hope you can get it resolved!:hug:

[Ariana]

Right or wrong I would not hesitate to call the school on this child's behalf and let the parents know I did so.

[daycarediva]

Is the bullying happening at school and she is telling you about it when she gets to daycare? If it is happening at school, the parent needs to step in and speak with the school. Putting your hands on someone in school is considered assault, so if tey are having a hard time getting a response from teh school, they need to go higher up and find out what rights they have to get her moved or in a safe environment.

If this is happening at daycare, you need to tell your director and they need to handle it asap. Putting your hands on another person is NOT OKAY. I am glad this child has you as an advocate and I hope you can get it resolved!:hug:

Yep.

I have called the school and the bus garage on behalf of my daycare kids before. I am listed as the responsible party by the bus, and an authorized pick up/drop off person by the school. I also send parents a message stating what happened and what I was told, if they feel the need to follow up further.

We just pulled our youngest out of school, as there was literally no consequences for this so called 'bullying', (and imho-ASSAULT)

[Pestle]

Good for you, Diva.

Just to be clear, OP, if you're not familiar with mandatory reporting law--it has nothing to do with where it happens and who's doing it; in your position, you're required to report abuse if you have good reason to believe it's taking place. Doesn't matter if it's one of your day care kids or a stranger. And, if I read the info in that second link correctly, contacting the school doesn't count--you have to report it to a different agency. So in your place, I'd discuss it with my director so we'd have a game plan in place if the parents/the school weren't responsive. It's not just for the child's well being but also because your center needs employees who follow and are familiar with the law.

[catinthebox]

update! I talked to the coworker about the child and asked for more information and found out that the child had reported this to my boss like a few months ago and to her parents.