A 38-year-old-man is facing child endangerment charges in Newton, Massachusetts, after police say he left his 3 children inside a car on a cold January afternoon for more than an hour while he was in court. The children were ages five, three, and 9 months.(USA Today 1/16/2015, p. 9A) According to the police, witnesses called in the report around 4pm.
While this was certainly a poor decision on the man's part, it’s also a perfect example of how society can create it’s own messes and can set people up to fail. Low income parents are often faced with the prospect of getting arrested for not going to court and have no access to a child sitter or perhaps funds to pay one. This causes them to do drastic things. It’s unfortunate that we’ll now spend thousands more of time and money condemning this man than it would have taken to offer him assistance.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Nannies: Why it May Matter Who Your Friends Are
Posted on November 18, 2012 by Rachael | in Nannies
In many jobs, who you have as friends isn’t something that’s really important to your boss. But like with government and high profile jobs, many nanny employers do care about what you do and who you associate with. While it may seem unfair that an employer judges you by your associations, for many parents, knowing as much about a caregiver as possible helps to them to make informed and educated hiring and managing decisions.
When it comes to evaluating a nanny’s character and judgment,(which is unquestionably important in evaluating nannies), the type of people a nanny spends her time with can provide insight into those both of those qualities. Nanny employers typically care about four main things when it comes to who their nanny keeps company with: they care if there is a safety risk to their children, a security risk to their children, a security risk to their property, and a risk of their children being influenced negatively.
A safety risk to their children.
It’s only natural and necessary for parents to be concerned about their children’s safety. A nanny who hangs around with individuals who have poor judgment, are unstable, or who have a history of criminal problems can be concerning to a parent. This is especially true if a nanny is in an abusive domestic relationship. Parents may be concerned that the nanny’s abusive partner may show up at the home, either uninvited or not, or that the nanny may be persuaded to assist a friend in trouble during her on duty hours, taking her focus off of the children.
A security risk to their children.
Nanny employers may also be concerned about the security of their children, especially if the family is wealthy or is a high profile family. Parents may feel that the more people who know the nanny cares for their children, the greater their children’s security risk is. A parent may be paranoid that if the nanny has shady friends, they may have less than genuine motives for getting to know the family, the children’s schedule and classified family information.
A security risk to their property.
For live-in nannies especially, the prospect of having visitors is appealing. However, if the parents aren’t confident that the nanny’s pals are people of integrity, she may be concerned with them coming to the home. Fears of thievery, snooping or property destruction may cause some concern.
A risk of their children being influenced negatively.
Most parents, whether nanny employers or not, want to shelter their young children from drugs, violence and swearing. If a nanny has friends who engage in drugs or violent behavior, or who curse like a trucker, the parents likely won’t want those friends coming around. Since individuals with common interests and hobbies tend to stick together, a nanny employer may discern that the nanny has similar character traits as those she spends her time with.
While the majority of nannies are straightedge individuals who are responsible, competent and caring, these same qualities that make them great child caregivers can make them susceptible to caring for other individuals who need help. Some nannies feel that who they spend their time with off the clock has no bearing on how they do their job, but nanny employers may feel differently. Nannies are hired to serve as role models to the children in their care and to provide their charges with high quality, attentive childcare. During their workday, nannies are forced to make judgment calls on everything from what playground slide is appropriate to go down to what size a toddler’s grapes should be cut into.
For many parents, knowing that a nanny consistently makes good judgment calls is vital to developing a trusting relationship. While a nanny may be put-off that an employer cares about or questions her associations, nannies must respect that the well-being of the children is a priority and anything that could jeopardize that priority is best discovered by the parents.
We are not promoting this site, but we found it helpful. http://www.4nannies.com
In many jobs, who you have as friends isn’t something that’s really important to your boss. But like with government and high profile jobs, many nanny employers do care about what you do and who you associate with. While it may seem unfair that an employer judges you by your associations, for many parents, knowing as much about a caregiver as possible helps to them to make informed and educated hiring and managing decisions.
When it comes to evaluating a nanny’s character and judgment,(which is unquestionably important in evaluating nannies), the type of people a nanny spends her time with can provide insight into those both of those qualities. Nanny employers typically care about four main things when it comes to who their nanny keeps company with: they care if there is a safety risk to their children, a security risk to their children, a security risk to their property, and a risk of their children being influenced negatively.
A safety risk to their children.
It’s only natural and necessary for parents to be concerned about their children’s safety. A nanny who hangs around with individuals who have poor judgment, are unstable, or who have a history of criminal problems can be concerning to a parent. This is especially true if a nanny is in an abusive domestic relationship. Parents may be concerned that the nanny’s abusive partner may show up at the home, either uninvited or not, or that the nanny may be persuaded to assist a friend in trouble during her on duty hours, taking her focus off of the children.
A security risk to their children.
Nanny employers may also be concerned about the security of their children, especially if the family is wealthy or is a high profile family. Parents may feel that the more people who know the nanny cares for their children, the greater their children’s security risk is. A parent may be paranoid that if the nanny has shady friends, they may have less than genuine motives for getting to know the family, the children’s schedule and classified family information.
A security risk to their property.
For live-in nannies especially, the prospect of having visitors is appealing. However, if the parents aren’t confident that the nanny’s pals are people of integrity, she may be concerned with them coming to the home. Fears of thievery, snooping or property destruction may cause some concern.
A risk of their children being influenced negatively.
Most parents, whether nanny employers or not, want to shelter their young children from drugs, violence and swearing. If a nanny has friends who engage in drugs or violent behavior, or who curse like a trucker, the parents likely won’t want those friends coming around. Since individuals with common interests and hobbies tend to stick together, a nanny employer may discern that the nanny has similar character traits as those she spends her time with.
While the majority of nannies are straightedge individuals who are responsible, competent and caring, these same qualities that make them great child caregivers can make them susceptible to caring for other individuals who need help. Some nannies feel that who they spend their time with off the clock has no bearing on how they do their job, but nanny employers may feel differently. Nannies are hired to serve as role models to the children in their care and to provide their charges with high quality, attentive childcare. During their workday, nannies are forced to make judgment calls on everything from what playground slide is appropriate to go down to what size a toddler’s grapes should be cut into.
For many parents, knowing that a nanny consistently makes good judgment calls is vital to developing a trusting relationship. While a nanny may be put-off that an employer cares about or questions her associations, nannies must respect that the well-being of the children is a priority and anything that could jeopardize that priority is best discovered by the parents.
We are not promoting this site, but we found it helpful. http://www.4nannies.com
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Child Killing Cop To Face Third Trial
In Detroit, Michigan, Joseph Weekley may face a third trial in March for killing a young girl during a 2010 police raid after two previous trials ended with deadlocked juries.
Seven year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was essentially murdered as police executed a search warrant for a murder suspect. Weekley entered the home and immediately fired 1 shot directly at the child who was sleeping on the couch, striking her in the neck and killing her. The police department then lied and tried to make up a story about the grandmother charging at the officer, but because the raid was being followed by a camera crew for the television show The First 48, in this instance, their deceit was exposed. The producer said the film footage blatantly contradicted the story that the Detroit police tried to make up.
The fact that they are having to try this case a third time is yet another example of the preferential treatment police receive from the US 'injustice' system whenever they do something wrong. It's also telling that none of the dozens of officers initially involved and trying to cover up this murder has faced any serious repercussions.
Click here to learn more about child safety incidents.
Seven year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was essentially murdered as police executed a search warrant for a murder suspect. Weekley entered the home and immediately fired 1 shot directly at the child who was sleeping on the couch, striking her in the neck and killing her. The police department then lied and tried to make up a story about the grandmother charging at the officer, but because the raid was being followed by a camera crew for the television show The First 48, in this instance, their deceit was exposed. The producer said the film footage blatantly contradicted the story that the Detroit police tried to make up.
The fact that they are having to try this case a third time is yet another example of the preferential treatment police receive from the US 'injustice' system whenever they do something wrong. It's also telling that none of the dozens of officers initially involved and trying to cover up this murder has faced any serious repercussions.
Click here to learn more about child safety incidents.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Making Sure The Baby Is Breathing
Parents have long been known to sneak a peak at their sleeping infant just to make sure he's still breathing. For those especially anxious parents, you can now buy a baby monitor that actually tracks their vital signs. For just $249, this Sproutling baby monitor will measure your baby's vitals through an ankle monitor attached to the baby, and then send them to your smart phone. The device will also "learn" the baby's behaviors (such as nap time) with the idea that it will help parents plan.
An interesting gismo, but I fear this is the perfect example of technology increasing anxiety rather than diminishing it. When considering that false positives are common even among hospital devices, or that common conditions such as the occasional infant sleep apnea could set off an alarm, chances are this device will merely insure a lot more panicked runs to the nursery, only to find out that baby is breathing after all.
An interesting gismo, but I fear this is the perfect example of technology increasing anxiety rather than diminishing it. When considering that false positives are common even among hospital devices, or that common conditions such as the occasional infant sleep apnea could set off an alarm, chances are this device will merely insure a lot more panicked runs to the nursery, only to find out that baby is breathing after all.
Click her to learn more about infant safety
Friday, December 5, 2014
Kids With Guns At School
This week a second grade boy sparked a full scale lockdown in two schools in Middleton, Idaho. His crime; bringing what turned out to be a toy gun to school. Police discovered the toy gun after 45 minutes of searching the school, and then the boy was suspended. The lesson? Talk to your kids about weapon safety, and where toy guns should and should not go. It might also be a good idea to give your child's backpack a quick look-over as you send them off in to school.
In Clayton Missouri, three kindergarten students found a loaded hand-gun on the playground while out at recess at their elementary school. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. But this type of scenario is how many gun accidents happen: kids stumble upon a weapon, assume it to be a toy, and then tragically find out otherwise. It appears the kids did the right thing by leaving it alone and telling a teacher. Both of these examples show us why it is so important to talk to your kids about all types of gun safety.
Click here to teach kids about gun safety
In Clayton Missouri, three kindergarten students found a loaded hand-gun on the playground while out at recess at their elementary school. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. But this type of scenario is how many gun accidents happen: kids stumble upon a weapon, assume it to be a toy, and then tragically find out otherwise. It appears the kids did the right thing by leaving it alone and telling a teacher. Both of these examples show us why it is so important to talk to your kids about all types of gun safety.
Click here to teach kids about gun safety
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