Abuse at Childcare centre

I am horrified at a case of abuse at a Child care centre in Singapore. I'm sure although this case surfaces due to its severity, it is just the tip of the ice berg. There might be more of such things happening behind closed doors which we did not know about.

This is a Childcare centre at Toa Payoh called "My First Skool" run by NTUC.

Links to videos of abuse are here on the parents' facebook page:
Part 1: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151557043991849
Part 2: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151557217131849

And Mr Brown blogged about it: http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2013/07/child-abuse-case-at-first-skool.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mrbrown+%28mrbrown%29#sthash.J0rUyDMv.gbpl
And the Malay teacher Siti Hadijah, a woman in her 50s, was later arrested, as reported in The Straits Times: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/police-arrest-childcare-teacher-who-allegedly-caused-injuries-3-year-o

The videos are so heartbreaking! I heard the mother cried and moaned "My child was tortured!" when watching the video captured by CCTV and the father demanding to know why the teacher did that to his boy.

The boy is a 3 year old toddler. He is active and he may not listen to instructions but he did all these because he's a toddler! It's a perfectly normal behaviour for a young child to want to play and jump around, and misbehave. It is totally NOT ok for an adult to insult, slap or slam the child down hard on the floor to stop him from trying to run around and play.

Some of the reactions adults took to children's behaviour are totally irrational but they could not see it and reasoned that they are "disciplining" the child. My friend said her hubby would cane their daughter whenever she goes to play with the powerpoint at their house. I asked her "So after caning, would she stop going to play with it ever again?" She said, no, the daughter still continues to do so. Then why do you keep using the cane when its ineffective? Puzzling, isn't it? Albert Einstein once said that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Sometimes we just don't THINK.

I hope the teacher can be punished severely and the school and the principal be given serious warning too. This can serve as a strong warning to all Childcare operators and teaching staff.

Any parent considering sending their children to childcare centres have to do their research to find out which one is good and which one is bad. I've heard enough horror stories about Childcare centres.

Centres like My First Skool are generally well thought of by parents, so its surprising that such an abuse case happened there!

I've heard parents complaining about one of the child care centres at Sengkang. The child came home saying "teacher beat, teacher beat". And when I called up that centre, the teacher cannot speak English or understand me, and when I tried speaking Chinese to her, she has a strong Malaysian chinese accent. I guess most centres staff themselves with cheaper foreign labours whom they can make to work long hours, in order to save cost and maximise profit? Anyway this centre is out.

A friend who worked in a childcare centre part time told me she saw the teacher held a boy up by his shirt collar and threw him onto the chair when he ran around after she gave instructions to sit down. When confronted, the teacher said this is the only way to treat the children, otherwise they will be too disobedient. My goodness! This is what a child care teacher thinks? My friend said the centre is clearly over crowded, too many students and too understaffed, and the children are very naughty, running around, going hay wired. When you don't give enough activities to stimulate the children, that's what they do. They don't sit down and guai guai wait for you to instruct them to sit or stand. When the centre is understaffed and curriculum improperly planned, that's what happened. And if you treat the children with aggression, that's what they learnt too. They also became aggressive and unruly.

Another friend who once worked in a local childcare centre said one of teachers locked a boy in the toilet and scolded him, and the principal, being on good terms with the teacher, ignored the situation. That's totally unacceptable. Locking small children in a confined area is really scary for them!

Then I've visited another centre near where I stay and one minute there is enough to tell me its a "No". The Chinese teacher didn't sound like she's teaching Chinese, more like barking instructions, and when she brought the children out to playground, she's constantly scolding the children. And she's the only teacher who brought the children out, no assistants. Understaffed, I guess? And while I was there observing, another teacher, the English teacher was scolding a girl for playing in the toilet or something like that. Its not the problem with scolding but I couldn't see any love in the actions or hear love in the tone of the voice. They don't seem to enjoy their job at all. And this centre's charges are high.

Then I chose to send Kieran for half day to Ci Ai, mainly because its clean as its a new school, students  there are not a lot as its new, and the teaching staff there, as far as I can see, are rather caring. But I'm not taking any chances. I'm peeping in whenever I could to make sure he's ok and the teachers are not harsh on him or other children. Kieran has a great English teacher but she has left for further studies, and he now has a very nice Chinese teacher. He also likes the Centre supervisor who always bring him in during the mornings, and wash his hands, and take him to the breakfast table. He also remembers the songs that the Chinese teacher teaches him, and he sings for us. But there are a few teachers or assistants there who are really fierce and deals with the naughtier children. I saw another teacher scolding a boy in his playgroup who is more active and doesn't listen to instructions as well as they hope he would. I'm glad Kieran can speak well, communicate well with the teachers, listens to instructions (because he can understand what we say and respond accordingly which may not be so for many toddlers yet), and he doesn't like running around. But then afternoon, they will close the windows, pull down the blinds, and let the children nap. And you never know what's happening behind the closed doors. That is why I am very reluctant to let him continue on the afternoon sessions although it would be good for me and other caregivers when our Caitlin is born, and also more rest for me now when I am in the 3rd trimester. Sigh. I hope I can do more for little Kieran and I really hope there's someone else who can help to care for him as well as I do, in my absence. But this is really difficult. Nobody can replace the mother, not even if you engage the best nanny with the highest pay. Who can tolerate the child's tantrums with a forgiving heart and will discipline with the objective of love and not because of anger and frustration, as well as I do? Kieran made me so tired sometimes but as a mother, we just forgive and love.