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Yep, that should definitely become a standard practice in all daycares... the schools these days send an automatic alert to parents about an hour into the school day, so it's a system that is already in place and should be easily adoptable.
So they'd can watch your kids 8-9 hours a day and babysit a parent?
So they'd can watch your kids 8-9 hours a day and babysit a parent?
You could look at it that way, or you could look at it pragmatically. You've signed up for daycare for X hours on X days. If you don't cancel and don't show up, within the hour you get an automatic text that you are being charged for the day regardless.
The fact that this would alert any parent who forgot to drop off their child, is just an added benefit.
Thing is, they would leave their shoe in the back AS they are placing the child in - which means, WHILE still remembering the necessity to do so! The child in front of them being their active reminder, as in "I am strapping the Jr. in, so now I get to leave my shoe next to his seat..."
And by the time there is a chance to have forgotten about having done both - the second you step out without a shoe, it would be an instant reminder!
Possibly even better suggestion that I've heard - to [B]have a stretchy cord going from the car seat and connected to your car keys, it goes like this: STRAPPED THE CHILD IN ==> CLIP THE NEARBY TETHER TO YOUR CAR KEYS via D-clip/carabiner immediately! (all while standing in the SAME spot).
Then you walk around to driver's seat, stretching the cord to reach ignition, and drive normally. When you arrive - if you somehow have forgotten the child by then, the very second you step out of the car, the still-tethered car keys won't let you take another step!! EVEN if you forget the car keys in - most cars are going to beep loudly, reminding you that very fact... until you retrieve them. AND the child!
[/b]
THIS!!!!!!
THIS is what I've been trying to say on every thread when a child dies. If you have a child, DO THIS!
I don't care who you are or how you answered this thread, (guilty of neglect or an accident) It only takes a few seconds and could save your child's life.
Sure, car manufacturers could make a detection device that rings or beeps or whatever, but IF in the event for whatever reason that the detection device fails, they would be SUED up the Ying Yang if a child dies!
You could look at it that way, or you could look at it pragmatically. You've signed up for daycare for X hours on X days. If you don't cancel and don't show up, within the hour you get an automatic text that you are being charged for the day regardless.
The fact that this would alert any parent who forgot to drop off their child, is just an added benefit.
Sure, but the text shouldn't be guaranteed. Some people want to make daycares responsible, which I think is a horrendous idea. Daycares aren't responsible for someone leaving their child in a hot car. They don't get paid enough to take on that level of responsibility. The average daycare worker probably earns about $9 an hour. Childcare is already a high level of responsibility for ridiculously low pay.
My advice to parents is, learn to be better parents. Use common sense. Don't let yourself get distracted. Get your priorities in order. Don't blame a daycare center for something that happened when your child wasn't even in the daycare.
Last edited by PriscillaVanilla; 06-26-2018 at 02:35 PM..
You could look at it that way, or you could look at it pragmatically. You've signed up for daycare for X hours on X days. If you don't cancel and don't show up, within the hour you get an automatic text that you are being charged for the day regardless.
The fact that this would alert any parent who forgot to drop off their child, is just an added benefit.
It is not the daycare provider's responsibility to prevent a parent from leaving a child in a car. Any malfunction in the messaging system would be an opportunity to sue the daycare provider for failure to police the parent's behavior. The parent could still miss or ignore the message. No one is going to want to run a daycare if they are going to be held responsible for the actions of parents who aren't even on their premises. It is not reasonable to put the burden on the daycare provider.
Yep, that should definitely become a standard practice in all daycares... the schools these days send an automatic alert to parents about an hour into the school day, so it's a system that is already in place and should be easily adoptable.
I don't know about daycare. I do know schools have always called if the child was absent, or at least the schools I went to (starting in the 70s) did. In addition to the phone call, the parent had to send in a written excuse the next day. Today it's usually done by text or phone.
In fact, my mother had a cute story from when I was in elementary school...early 70s. The school called that night for her to excuse my absence. My mother had a really young-sounding Minnie Mouse voice. Apparently the secretary said "Come on, put your mother on the phone" and my mom said "I am my mother! No, wait, I mean..."
Granted the standard phone call could be hours later (our schools always called at night, I guess assuming parents would be home at dinner time) and the child could be kidnapped and in an entirely different state with cut and dyed hair by then, or dead in a hot car, but yes, it is standard practice on the part of schools. But that could be liability or some other issues as public schools and daycares do not function in the same way.
I'm not sure about "reporting" an absence at a daycare or the daycare calling to follow up. I'd think it would be pretty easy for the daycare's secretary to do. S/he is fielding phone calls anyway and how many kids could be absent without the parent saying anything on a given day anyway? But again, because it's not federal/public, I don't think it could actually be a rule or law, per se, for a daycare to do this.
I see the wisdom in preventive measures like leaving the phone or purse in the back or using a cord, but OTOH, because most people don't believe we could/would ever possibly "forget" our own child in a car, it's not likely most people would adopt such measures. Most people just wouldn't think to, because they/we wouldn't ever even imagine doing such a thing in the first place.
(I know, until/unless it happens to the given person, but what parent remembers every single isolated incident of every single possible type and prevents it every single time? Like checking the nipple hole on bottles to be sure they aren't jagged from use and will break and the milk will choke the child...child's one leg being up in the walker unnoticed and circulation is cut off...checking a child head to toe for possible bug bites in case of a surprise anaphylaxic first-time reaction following every single jaunt outdoors, even to the car and back...) I mean there are literally about a million possible horror scenarios in every single thing one does with/for a child, every single day of that child's existence. Do we ever think the weirdest, the most horrific, and the most shocking things will happen on OUR watch and do we think in advance of every single one?)
By taking off a shoe and putting in the back seat or tying a cord from your wrist to the child, you're sort of admitting you might literally forget your child exists and I'll bet a lot of parents would resist that undercurrent/implication, and as for parents who don't care enough, well, they don't care enough to think in advance about the child being left in the car anyway, I'm assuming.
It is not the daycare provider's responsibility to prevent a parent from leaving a child in a car. Any malfunction in the messaging system would be an opportunity to sue the daycare provider for failure to police the parent's behavior. The parent could still miss or ignore the message. No one is going to want to run a daycare if they are going to be held responsible for the actions of parents who aren't even on their premises. It is not reasonable to put the burden on the daycare provider.
So, you're saying that a daycare should NOT call/text, for any reason, a parent whose child doesn't show up, because they could be sued??
All I am saying is that if I had a daycare, I would be calling a parent whose child didn't show up. For my own reasons. I want to know if they are coming late, thought they had canceled and didn't, or whatever. If that call makes someone realize that they forget their child in the car, great. That's an unintentional benefit. I don't see that a phone call or lack of phone call makes the daycare legally responsible for a parent's action.
So, you're saying that a daycare should NOT call/text, for any reason, a parent whose child doesn't show up, because they could be sued??
All I am saying is that if I had a daycare, I would be calling a parent whose child didn't show up. For my own reasons. I want to know if they are coming late, thought they had canceled and didn't, or whatever. If that call makes someone realize that they forget their child in the car, great. That's an unintentional benefit. I don't see that a phone call or lack of phone call makes the daycare legally responsible for a parent's action.
^ I am not the person you quoted, but I don't think that's the idea. The idea is that if it is assumed, based on consistent/past behavior, that the daycare SHOULD or WOULD have called for ANY absence, then sure, the one parent who doesn't get that "expected" call (even if it's not daycare policy) could sue. Absolutely, positively.
I can see the wisdom in this. It's sad but it's pretty accurate, IMHO. Either the daycare commits to calling every single time AND takes responsibility...or it can't call at all. It only makes sense, when you think about it. And not just as a CYA for the daycare, either. If parents assume it will happen then they may feel more protected than they really are. Obviously, lives are at stake. It's not something to just lightly commit to, but if it's missed once in a while oh well. It would be a WAY bigger deal than that. These are children's lives we're talking about.
OK, well! Clearly not being sued is far more important than a child's life or even the daycare's right to inquire why a missing kid didn't show up. Glad to know we all have our priorities straight.
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