'Daycare Safety' by Mikayla Edwards

Daycare related injuries have become more familiar within the last few years. Nearly eleven million children are in child care programs around the world. Most injuries and fatalities are never fully investigated. Most parents do not even get the full story behind the injury or death. Approximately one thousand three hundred and sixty two children have resulted in death while being in a daycare facility or home care. Only thirty-eight states require daycare facilities to report fatalities to their licensing agency. Stories such as a child was beat up or thrown around while in daycare or even worse stories such as the child died while in the daycare provider's watch may be from a motor vehicle accident or drowning incident. Parents should be aware of unlicensed daycare owners who try and scam families, as well as undercover molesters and abusers. Daycare safety is important because one is trusting someone to watch one's child, provide the child with it's needs that the parents would but for a fee and also to prevent the child from harm. Daycare injuries are in an uproar because the providers have all authority, to many kids to watch, and facilities are not childproofed.

Becoming a licensed daycare provider, one probably had to take classes on child development, child safety and nutritional values of children. Then one must have went through a series of house or facility inspections, background checks, fingerprinting and so forth. Then they can receive their license, depending on what state one is in there may be more. Childcare related injuries can occur because the provider is their own boss. The provider has all authority, all say so in what each child does, eats, plays with, and learns. For example in Fairfield, Connecticut, on September 8, 2016, Carol Cardillo was charged with second-degree manslaughter, second-degree reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor after a four month old baby died. It was ruled as a homicide and police later added the cause of death was acute diphenhydramine intoxication. Carol was released on a two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar bond, court date is set for September 15, 2016. This article is related to my point because this unlicensed daycare provider had authority over this baby and it's consumption which ended up killing the child. Parents should be more careful about who they trust to watch their children.

Most daycare providers have a set limit of children that they can watch within their facility. When one goes over that limit, things can get overwhelming and may lose ability of control as well. It can hard on one provider to watch and care for a lot of children. Injuries can go unnoticed if the provider is preoccupied with other children. For example in Jacksonville, North Carolina on February 26, 2016, a daycare provider was fired due to a child, Josiah Cole, falling, hitting his head on a table and left unconscious and unnoticed. The parents were never aware of the injury, they just saw the bruises. The facility offered to pay Josiah's medical bills and were very sorry for everything. Parents should be on the lookout for bruises and unlike behaviors having started after attending the daycare. Parents should always monitor if their set provider is following the rules in order to keep things like unaware injuries from happening.

Childproofing a facility or home should be number one priority in child care. Children find ways to get into things that one may not think they could. Things such as doors should have security knobs, quick stops and child locks. Other things such as book cases, furniture and kitchen supplies should all be nailed down and locked up in case of falling. For example in New Delhi on May 11, 2016 a daycare center in Guragon was booked for negligence when a three year old's thumb was shut inside a door, rushed to the emergency room and was later told that the child thumb was amputated. The couple who owns the facility took full responsibility and wanted to pay for the child's reconstructive surgery, then a change came after the first surgery when it was time for the second, the owners said they had other expenses to pay for. Said by a deputy on the case “There are no rules or guidelines under the district administration to keep a check on day-to-day activities inside such daycare centres or creches. Since there are no guidelines, we don't have a team or a procedure to check whether these places are following basic rules.” This relates to no other authority as well as childproofing involving the severe incident. Parents should inspect around the facility themselves before letting their child attend. As well as monitor their child's physical being.

All these injuries could be considered accidents, but only one person knows the truth, The provider. Injuries to children can be more severe compared to an teenager or adult. Keep in mind that even a fall can cause internal injuries and problems in the child's future. Injuries can be caused by no proper supervision, no security on top of providers, too many kids, preoccupied situations, and areas not being child proofed. According to EarlychildhoodNEWS.com a major step in preventing child care injuries is the "seven step safety check". Safety check one, check licensing requirements. Safety check two, check Consumer Product Safety Commision. Safety check three, check playgrounds. Safety check four, check national standards. Safety check five, check the thirteen key indicators. Safety check six, check all the safety organizations affiliated with the facility. Lastly safety check seven, check on one's own experience and instincts. Parents should always be one step ahead, looking for new signs of abuse or injury. Keep in close touch with one's set provider, keeping logs of each child's day or plans is good for the parent to see. Be aware of any strange behavior coming from the provider as well. Child care safety is very important to keep our children safe even when they are in someone else's care.