Splash

There is another after school group in the building.

I'm not sure which 'at risk kids' entity they're working for, but I know they aren't required to license.

This means that just about any adult off the street who wants to work with kids can be hired. No background check and no training. 

To work under an actual day care license and do what I do takes an FBI background check, including fingerprints before you can even walk in the door. I have co-workers who have job coaches on site, and even the job coaches must submit fingerprints and do an FBI background check. 

To be a site director takes a fair bit of experience and training. Probably don't need to explain that experience teaches you far more than formal training.

So yeah. This other group in the building.
I watch them as they run screaming ...

the kids I mean, the adults aren't screaming, (at least on the outside) through our area to exit the back doors and hit the playground.

They've recently begun carrying a little first aid kit with them, a definite improvement over the last 2 years when they go out with nothing but some playground equipment. I have given bandages to them more than once. 

Yeah, I know, not my responsibility, but the alternative is to just let a kid bleed. 
Can't do it.

But this week I noticed they're finally carrying a kit on their way out to the playground.

They still run and scream on their way out the doors, and quite often are wandering around the building unaccompanied in pairs and trios while they're supposed to be in their upstairs classroom. I have to monitor our restroom area carefully. Our rule is one kid at a time for safety purposes.

I've had to ask them to please go back to their group when the action is getting ridiculous in the restroom area. They are never alone, always with at least one friend, and they're loud, messy and since no one is watching them, they do whatever they feel like doing.

I go to the area and ask them to please rejoin their group, that I have kids who need to use the restroom and they can't while other groups are there.

They aren't always polite when I ask them to go, but I have a thick skin. I talk with the person in charge of their program on occasion, she actually is pretty good at her job.

But when Brian came back from washing his hands on Wednesday and his entire front was soaking wet and he told me 'a couple of kids' had splashed him, I was full of righteous anger.

I immediately texted Anna, our front office person and let her know what had happened, told her I can't leave the kids but since it just happened, it seems that they'd know which kids had left their classroom area.

She was on it. Showed up about 30 seconds later with a laptop for Brian to look at to try to identify the kids who had splashed him. He pointed out two photos of girls and said, "It was this one and this one."

Anna went upstairs to talk with the kid wranglers.

I didn't see her again that afternoon, but I know she has a million things going on. Brian was fine, just a little wet.

I wrote an incident report and notified his dad in person about what had happened.
Called my manager, too. Covered all the bases.

The next afternoon, Anna stopped by while I was setting up program. I asked her if she thought we'd be having any more issues. 

She said, "Well. About that. He lied."

My mouth dropped open. Of all the kids in my care, he's the absolute last one I'd expect a lie from. 
"Whaaaattt???"

"Yep. We wanted to make sure we weren't falsely accusing anyone of wrongdoing, so we viewed the video footage. He went around the corner into the sink area alone, was there for about two minutes, and came back out alone and soaked. No one went into that area for the 10 minutes before, and no one came out after he did, and we watched for another couple of minutes."

I really was speechless.

BRIAN lied? Brian??? Little Mr. Integrity? That Brian?

Wow.

So she told me that the principal had called his parent and had a conversation with them, and that he'd been called to the office and they talked about telling the truth and how lying can cause harm to others.

I talked with him briefly, too.
Explained that I have to be able to trust him. That I tell him the truth and expect the same courtesy.

His mom told me at pickup that she thought he just told a little lie and then things got away from him and he didn't know how to get out of it, so he just went with it.

He's six. Lying is age-appropriate behavior, and they do (usually) outgrow it.

But I'm still really surprised that he wasn't truthful with me. He's a seriously neat little kid, always trying to help. Always nice to the other kids, too. I'm also taken aback by how he didn't blush, or look away or give ANY indicator that what he was telling me wasn't the absolute truth.