Church Nursery Problem

Question

I am a Sunday school teaher and a nursery worker at my church and we have a little girl that likes to bit other kids. Do u think we should tell the other parents when their kid gets bit by this little girl, or do it like a daycare center and not tell the parents who bit thier kid? Please help cus as of right now we have a lot of parents made at each other cus of this problem.

Answer 1

I am in Children's Ministry at my church.  Here is what we would do-

the biter can't be allowed in the nursery for one month.  During that time, tell the other parents that the problem has been taken care of.  They will ask how you have taken care of it, and you can say the biter has been removed from the nursery.  That will give you a chance to calm everyone down, and get things back to normal.  When the month is over and the biter returns, keep a 1 on 1 ratio on that child at all times.  That means you will have 1 nursery person watching 15 kids, and 1 nursery worker watching 1 kid.  The other parent's will figure it all out- who the biter is, why the extra help...but you can't help that.  

Answer 2

you must tell the parents of the children getting bitten that they have been bit.  just to cover yourselves legally.  maybe do an 'ouch report' of some kind.  but you should not tell the parents who the bitter is.  that's a confidentiality issue even in sunday school.  it might be that this child is not ready for the nursery or that one of the child's parents needs to stay with him/her each week.  they can alternate until the problem passes.  it's a normal phase for younger children but needs to be addressed.  personally i wouldn't like my child being fair game for someone who bites.

Answer 3

Ok I want to make sure that I got your question right. A child is biting other children and you want to know if you should tell the parents of the bitten child the name of the bitter?  If this is your question I wouldn't tell who the bitter is. Bitting is stage that many children go though.  Telling who the bitter is can cause harsh feeling towards the child and the family.  I would say to inform both parents about the situation and make sure that the child who is doing the bitting is being watched more than normal.  Even if this includes making the child your "special helper".  

Answer 4

I would be furious if people who were responsible for the welfare of my child did not tell me who bit my child. I would want to either remove my child from their care (some would sue) or be there to monitor the behavior of the child who is biting. The parents of the child who is biting need to either step in and help in the nursery at your church to prevent their child from biting or the biting child should be removed. If you don't take some sort of action to prevent the biting in some way you are going to get a worse problem on your hands. Parents will not take kindly to you for protecting the child who is biting or for not protecting their child from being bitten. I will not tolerate my child being in any place where they are repeatedly being hurt in any way for any reason--not for any reason or at any price. If it was at a daycare my child would be transferred to another. If it was at church I'd either be there to supervise myself or remove my child. Period. End of story. Figure out another solution other than telling or not telling about the biting.

Answer 5

You need to tell the parents of the child who bites that she is not allowed into the nursery. Or you need more workers to monitor this child so she doesn't have the chance to bite while in the nursery.  

Answer 6

You need to tell the parents of the child that bites,but you have the right to refuse the child because she bites. Your first concern should be for the safety of all the children in your care. It shouldn't be to satisfy everyone. If you one child bites even though you have told them that is wrong and why. The next step is to watch the child rest of the time for that week and if it continues the following week. You need tot get the parent and explain to them why you can't have there child in there for that week and if it continues you tell the parents you can't accept the child because the child continues to bites the other children in care.

Answer 7

Yes you should tell parents if their child is being bitten by another child.  If it was your child I'm sure you'd want to know if something like that was going on.  Let the parent of this biting child know how she is behaving in Sunday school class and try to resolve this behavior.  You dont want children leaving your class with bite marks on them only for the parents to question you.  Let everyone know.

Answer 8

You should definitely tell the parents of the bitten child that it happened and explain the circumstances. They do NOT need to know the name of the child who did the biting. Please be sure to tell the biter's parents about each incident as well.  Perhaps you need to have the Sunday School director (or whoever is in charge of the program) put a policy in writing and send it to all parents using the nursery. It should describe exactly how biting incidents will be handled.

Try to watch for when the biting occurs. Is there a pattern? You might be able to catch her before she bites in future. If you do not have enough helpers to keep an adult one-on-one with the biter, perhaps her parents should be asked not to bring her. I mean, Sunday School is important and I assume the parents are attending services while their child is in the nursery, but safety comes first. This is not like a day care or preschool where children must be there and parents pay for their children to attend. I don't think Sunday School teachers and nursery workers should be expected to deal with behaviour problems at the same level as day care or preschool teachers.

Meanwhile, it sounds like everyone could take a little time to think about and share more of Christ's love and understanding!