Author: /u/dammitjanetihateyou

⚠️Trigger Warning ⚠️

I have a friend that told me about her one day working at a daycare center. She told me it was one of the worst places she had been to.

She told me so many different things but a few stood out the most that I can’t stop thinking about. The “teachers” were mean and yell at the children. One woman got in a child’s face to scream and get the child to behave. Child was crying of course. They pick the children up by grabbing an arm and yanking them up. She said some cry because they are very rough. The small month old babies are left in high chairs to watch Cocomelon for hours on end. Some of the high chairs are so filthy and smell like feces. Whoever was in charge left 2 young inexperienced teens (one was my friend) with all the children. All ages mixed together. The playground outside is not fenced and next to a road with cars passing by. My friend had to run after a kid that was trying to enter the business next door because they’re in a shopping center. There was a homeless man asleep on the equipment and she was advised to just let him sleep and call the owner. The little children were trying to wake him of course. A couple elementary school girls got dropped off after school, they would take dolls, hang them on the fence and start hitting them and yelling, “this is what you get for being bad, etc”.. (of course I understand this is probably how they get treated at home but still disturbing to hear) The children get put in timeout a lot which is a small playpen and are left there crying with a couple toys. The people working there “take care” if the infants because “infants are a lot of work”.. but like I’ve mentioned, they’re left in high chairs for hours.

The thing that stood out to me as the most disturbing was when a child asked my friend for water because they were thirsty, my friend asked where she could get water from and the response was, “if they didn’t bring it with them they don’t get any.” So if these kids are being dropped off with no food and water they weren’t allowed to have any. My friend told me there were a lot of kids with no food or drinks.

I was absolutely horrified to hear all this. I asked her to go back the next day and please take care of the kids, I’ll get water and snacks, but my friends is so timid and shy, she’s refusing to go back. She said it was one of the worst experiences she’s had and I don’t blame her. This happened late last week and I’ve been so distressed about it all weekend. My friend reported everything she saw to her company that sent her there to work but is there anything else that can be done? Can CPS be called for child abuse? Do I contact a news station so people will be aware? Do I flag down parents while they’re dropping off to tell them? I don’t know what to do about it but I can’t just do nothing. I 100% understand that it’s a lower income facility, the kids are kinda mean and wild (my friend said a couple kids tried to fight her), if it’s shut down people will struggle to afford better care for their kids, but I still believe these children deserve proper care, safety and food and water. She didn’t witness anyone hitting a child but then again they were “taking care of infants” while my friend and another girl had to take care of all the children. My friend asked for help because the other girl left early and she couldn’t handle all the children herself. The response she got was, “why do you think we hired you for?” If I’m being honest, the way my friend described their aggression and short temper towards the children, they probably also hit the children. Knowing all of this weighs heavy on my mind and heart. I want people to know. I want someone to help save these children. The way they are being treated now is how they might treat others in life. They deserve kindness and the ability to grow healthily. What can I do? Someone please give me advice.