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I'm the director of a child care center. The most important aspect of my job (and of all my staff) is to keep kids safe. There are lots of other important things to do and provide, but safety is always first. And I'm sure that all the parents in my program would say the same - keeping their kids safe is their first priority.
But egad, do they ever miss the mark when it comes to carseats!!! Holy cow you should see the seats that people leave in the hall everyday. Yipes! I only have one family who uses a decent 5 pt bucket and actually buckles the baby into it correctly. I often walk a parent or other relative out to the car if they have two kids and two seats to get out there and the ways that I see seats get installed... well, you'd all probably feel light-headed at the sight the same way I do. And these are not neglectful parents; these are people who really care and want the best for their kids, but they don't seem to know they're doing the whole carseat thing ALL WRONG.
The worst, though? The worst is this (because these are supposed to be professionals in the business of keeping kids safe!): there are several kids in my program who are in protective custody who go to a family services center for supervised visitation several times a week. The bus comes to get those kids and I take them out and put them in their carseats. I am in seriously HOT water with those folks because I refuse to put any of my precious babies (and no, they are not mine, but since I am responsible for them (and because I happen to care a whole heck of a lot), they are in some sense MINE) in improperly installed seats. I told the driver that either she would wait while I did the job correctly, or she would put them in herself, but that under no circumstances would I be the person responsible for putting those kids at risk. Well, you'd think I slashed all the tires on the bus or some [email protected] thing with the backlash I got. Now one driver lets me do the buckling myself and two drivers put the kids in themselves. (It's not an option to refuse to let them go; I'd be prosecuted for interfering in a custody order.) (Oh, and yes, I've reported this problem to all the appropriate authorities with zero results.)
Man oh man is it hard for me to see this happening! I care so much about all the kids in my program and I hate to see them at risk. Every single month, I post a few child passenger safety statistics on the parent information board, along with that month's schedule of carseat safety events. I encourage people to get more information and tell them where they can go. Sadly, there's not much more I can do. I plan to take the cpst course next year so I'll have some more authority, but most parents probably still won't listen.
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I even overheard some of my staff (most of whom have young children of their own) talking about how weird it is that my 6 yo (who rides in a Regent) still sits in a "baby seat."
All I can do is share information as much as possible and hope and pray that the worst never happens. It's so hard to let go, though, when I'm holding the terrible knowledge of all that might happen!
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But egad, do they ever miss the mark when it comes to carseats!!! Holy cow you should see the seats that people leave in the hall everyday. Yipes! I only have one family who uses a decent 5 pt bucket and actually buckles the baby into it correctly. I often walk a parent or other relative out to the car if they have two kids and two seats to get out there and the ways that I see seats get installed... well, you'd all probably feel light-headed at the sight the same way I do. And these are not neglectful parents; these are people who really care and want the best for their kids, but they don't seem to know they're doing the whole carseat thing ALL WRONG.
The worst, though? The worst is this (because these are supposed to be professionals in the business of keeping kids safe!): there are several kids in my program who are in protective custody who go to a family services center for supervised visitation several times a week. The bus comes to get those kids and I take them out and put them in their carseats. I am in seriously HOT water with those folks because I refuse to put any of my precious babies (and no, they are not mine, but since I am responsible for them (and because I happen to care a whole heck of a lot), they are in some sense MINE) in improperly installed seats. I told the driver that either she would wait while I did the job correctly, or she would put them in herself, but that under no circumstances would I be the person responsible for putting those kids at risk. Well, you'd think I slashed all the tires on the bus or some [email protected] thing with the backlash I got. Now one driver lets me do the buckling myself and two drivers put the kids in themselves. (It's not an option to refuse to let them go; I'd be prosecuted for interfering in a custody order.) (Oh, and yes, I've reported this problem to all the appropriate authorities with zero results.)
Man oh man is it hard for me to see this happening! I care so much about all the kids in my program and I hate to see them at risk. Every single month, I post a few child passenger safety statistics on the parent information board, along with that month's schedule of carseat safety events. I encourage people to get more information and tell them where they can go. Sadly, there's not much more I can do. I plan to take the cpst course next year so I'll have some more authority, but most parents probably still won't listen.
All I can do is share information as much as possible and hope and pray that the worst never happens. It's so hard to let go, though, when I'm holding the terrible knowledge of all that might happen!
