Discussion 3.4 Stepping back from harming a child

[Aileen]

I have little experience in a child care setting, at least with the same age group, but I have worked with teenagers in an over night summer camp setting. I have not had to stop myself from harming a child, but I have gotten frustrated at one child because he was very picky about his food and he did not seem like he wanted to be in the summer camp. It might have been something his parents picked out for him, and we eventually sought help from our regional manager on how to address our issues with the child. Eventually we had to remove him from the program halfway through. It was unfortunate, but at that time we tried all the steps to work it out (such as suggesting foods for him to try, more customization and 1:1 time with instructors so that he understood the material, sitting with the director, etc.) and sadly we still had to send him home early.

[Sarahcool28]

I have never felt I might harm a child but I have felt a few times like I am at a point where a certain child has pushed my stress level to the point that the child is only going to feed off of my stress and I am too irritated to calmly handle that current situation so I will call and ask that someone step in for me so I can take a minute to regroup and also give the child a new fresh adult who they might respond better to at that particular moment.