Daycare Fights, Maybe Not a Right of Passage?
Who is Responsible When Children Fight?What happens when a child hurts another child at daycare? Is this considered daycare abuse or just a painful fact of life? Boys will be boys, you've heard. Indeed, children learning to coexist with one another is all a part of growing up. In the old days it was unheard of for a parent to sue for a child-to-child injury. In the old days we could talk things over with the offending child's parent and be content with an apology, just like an episode of Leave it to Beaver or Dennis the Menace.
However, American life for youngsters has drastically changed in the 21st century. Children today can be very cruel. Some children have major personality disorders and may be downright violent towards other children. The bullies of yesterday are not even comparable to the bullies of today, considering the amount of child violence-including child-to-child assault, rape and even murder-that is heard in the news today. This new pervasive violence has even caused incidents of daycare abuse.
As you will read on such blogs as My Amazing Facts there are numerous instances of children beating or killing other children or even other adults. Understandably, our children are afraid to go to school and afraid to enter a new daycare center. They don't want to be the victim of daycare abuse.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that parents and legal guardians should learn to understand what motivates violent behavior in children, factors that bring about violence as well as the warning signs of possible violent behavior to come. The Academy listed some of the following causes of child against child injury:
A history of aggressive behavior
- Being the victim of physical abuse
- Exposure to violence in the home
- Family heredity
- Exposure to violence on TV
- Use of drugs
- Presence of guns or weapons in the home
- Poverty, severe emotional stress
- Brain damage
The warning signs to look out for include intense anger, temper tantrums, general irritability, extremely impulsive behavior and excessive frustration. Upon seeing these warning signs, parents, teachers and daycare staff members are advised to immediately seek qualified mental health treatment for the bullying kid. (This doesn't necessarily mean medication)
When a daycare center fails to take warning signs seriously and an act of violence with a bully occurs, then they fail to protect their students. A bullying kid is not something to take lightly, and you should not dismiss such an incident as a matter of "boys will be boys. MSNBC reported on the story of a student and his family suing an entire school district because they repeatedly failed to take action to protect a student who was being assaulted by bullies.
About 30 percent of youth in the U.S. are estimated to be involved in bullying incidents (either as a bully or a victim) according to statistics from Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth and as reported by the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center.
Daycare abuse can also involve a child against child injury. If your child is injured by a bully in a daycare, this is not a simple coming of age episode, nor is it any failure on the part of your child. It is a failure on the part of the daycare center to provide a safe environment. It may even be the fault of the bully or his or her parents. However, there is never an excuse for violence done to a child! If your child has been injured because of kid fighting in a daycare or has been the victim of brutal and repeated harassment, then contact the Rasansky Law Firm and learn about your child's rights. Call 1-877-405-4313 for a free consultation, our Dallas daycare abuse attorney would be happy to evaluate your case. Don't teach your child to fight dirty...teach him to follow the law.
RASANSKY LAW FIRM
2525 McKinnon Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
CALL US AT
1-877-405-4313