CHILDCARE
SHOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING? 500 WORDS
Imagine that you work in a room with another teacher. You have seventeen children aged 4-5 years old. Your group consists of primarily white children from European American descent. An East African family recently enrolled in the program and the child was placed in your room. Although the child and family got off to a good start, you have been having difficulty with the child arriving late every day. The program has a strict policy that every child must arrive at 9 a.m. when the doors are opened (and closed shortly thereafter). Punctuality is part of the program’s philosophy and every family is expected to abide by the rules.
One morning you hear the other teacher greeting the new family at the door as they arrive late. She asks the mother, who usually brings the child to school, why they are late. The mother, who is looking down, takes a moment to respond and then proceeds to tell your colleague that the reason they are late is because the start time for class conflicts with their *morning prayer time, which is also at 9 a.m. She is apologetic yet asks if there is any way the program can make an exception for her child. She explains that they don’t have many resources and would really like to stay in the program. She describes how the transition from Africa has been difficult for the child and she doesn’t want him to have to go through another change.
Next, you overhear the following response from your co-worker:
“I’m sorry, but we can’t allow you or any other family to be late. You will have to change your morning prayer time or go to another school where they do prayers. None of the other families have a problem getting here at 9 a.m., and we expect you to be able to do it too!”
Respond to the scenario by considering the following questions:
What would you do if this happened at your workplace? Should you say something? What would you do to address the situation?
*Although various religious groups and cultures have established/required prayer times this example does not represent a real group.
Answer previewIn this situation, a new parent is having difficulty bringing their child to school at the right time. The reason for this is that the arrival time to school conflicts with the time they hold their morning prayers. The co-worker is given the reason by the mother who is apologetic for the continued lateness. The mother relies wishes to have their child stay on the program since she does not have resources to enroll to another one and she also does not wish for the child to undergo another change as that will strain the child. The coworker is not sympathetic of their situation and tells the mother to either keep time or find another school.
If this happened at my workplace, I would approach my coworker to discuss it. Religion is a very important aspect of…
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