Children bitten by classmates in childcare centre

ALL content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/photos/1616500/Girl_2_bitten_3_times_by_classmates_in_childcare.html

In just one week, Stomp has received reports of two separate incidents of charges at a childcare centre being bitten by other students.

CHILD IN YISHUN INCIDENT

In the first incident that was reported on Feb 21, a parent had written in claiming that his daughter had been bitten three times on two separate occasions at a childcare centre in Yishun.

The first time was just before Chinese New Year and then on Feb 19.

The child was bitten by one student the first time and was bitten twice by two students on Feb 19.

CHILD IN PASIR RIS INCIDENT

In a separate incident that happened in a childcare centre in Pasir Ris, a parent had written in to Stomp and claimed that her son was bitten and scratched.

The boy suffered a bite on cheek and was scratched the week before. The parent also claimed that the teacher also refused to reveal the identity of the child who scratched her son.

She also said that the teacher did not reveal who the child who bit her son was. Her son was also scratched last week.

A Stomp contributor named Daniel said that his young daughter was bitten thrice by her classmates, but her parents were not contacted immediately by the staff at the childcare centre.

Said Daniel:"This is directed to the childcare centre and its staff and not anyone else.

"On Feb 19 I got a call at 5.39pm from the childcare centre, saying she was bitten by a classmate. This is the second time in 10 days!

"Just before CNY, my child got bitten on her arm and it swelled up. Nobody contacted or informed us about it. We only realised while bathing her that night. We confronted the teacher the next day, who only then explained that she had forgotten to tell us. We were angry but didn't pursue the matter.

"On Feb 19, I asked if the bite on her cheek was serious; if it's bleeding and if she is alright. Answer given by the teacher was, 'Don't worry, only a small bruise, not swollen, already iced her cheek'.

"My wife and I knock off work around 7pm, so it was my parents who went to pick my two-year-old girl. When they saw the bite marks they were so shocked!

"However there wasn't a teacher there to explain to us, only an assistant who is in charge of dismissal of the children, and she claimed she doesn't know anything.

"When we brought her to the doc, he too was shocked. The diagnosis came out to be very bad and she's having an infection right now. We were prescribed antibiotics and a cream to apply, however her cheek is still very swollen today. My daughter wakes up in the middle of the night crying for her mummy.

"On Feb 20, we went to the centre in the morning but the principal was having a meeting and would not be coming in the whole day, her form teacher was working the afternoon shift, not able to contact her and other teachers claimed they didn't know what happened exactly.

"We were told to come back the next day, only then would we be able to speak to the principal."

He continued to add: "On Feb 21 we went down in the hope of get a better answer from the centre.

"She was bitten twice with one on her left cheek, and one near her chin on her right. It seems the one on her chin was already done in the morning, while the one on her cheek was done in the afternoon.

"Worse, we only found out today that these 2 bites are by 2 DIFFERENT KIDS! We found out who bit her on her cheek and the child and parents apologised to us. We also found out who bit her on her arm but we do not wish to pursue the matter and that bite has already healed. However, we do not know who bit her on her chin.

"The teachers said because there wasn't a commotion so they didn't realise until she was bitten on her cheek and cried then they knew about it."

He concluded by pointing out: "There are two teachers to a class of five toddlers. There should be someone watching the kids the whole time, as kids might unknowingly get into fights when playing.

"My daughter got bitten thrice. Is there any trigger for this to happen? One of the toddlers who bit her is her close friend so we were quite shocked.

"This is seriously unacceptable! The centre is giving us such irresponsible answers. We do not blame the kid who bit our child, as we understand kids get into minor fights/struggles when they are playing together, but I think the centre must improve on their management."