Arizona School Sends Students to the Scream Room

Nationwide reports are beginning to surface about Desert Sage Elementary School confining students to a 5x5 padded room as punishment for misbehavior. The scream room, as the Arizona school calls it, even features restraints for especially “difficult” children, including a 7-year-old with special needs. Thankfully, this second-grader was brave enough to share the story of his punishment with his parents.

The young boy described being “restrained” in the room and said he’s been kept in there anywhere from a few minutes to the majority of the day. He went into detail about being forced to eat lunch in the padded cell and not being allowed out to use the bathroom. The Deer Valley School District denies that this special-needs child has ever been detained in the room for an excess of 15 minutes, though they admit he’s received this punishment 17 times between October and February.

Many parents in the school district are outraged at this alternative form of discipline.

It goes without saying that putting a child in a padded room for mildly misbehaving is not the norm in schools. But the larger problem, in my opinion, is that many of the parents were unaware this room existed and was being utilized as a form of punishment; the rest were surprised to find it was more of a cell than a quiet place to cool off. If Desert Sage Elementary School truly thinks this is the most effective way to discipline a disruptive child, they should have presented it more openly to the parents. Another missing piece of the puzzle, I cannot seem to find an answer regarding the school district’s awareness (or lack thereof) of this practice. Were they kept in the dark, as well, and are now scrambling to save face by defending Desert Sage Elementary?

Regardless of whether this is an acceptable form of punishment or not, it is not acceptable for 7-year-olds to be punished in ways their parents have not been made aware of.

Work/Life Balance: Just Say “NO!”

“If a 2-year-old can do it, why is it so hard for a grown woman?”

Oprah was talking about saying no. 

Though we know the answer to this question already, it really does help frame the problem. If you don’t have time to do something, say no. If you don’t want to do something (and it isn’t really necessary anyway), say no.  If you feel like you’re being taken advantage of, say no. If you’re simply exhausted, say no. It seems so easy! But we all know it’s not. It’s hard to let other people down and even harder to feel like you aren’t competent of doing everything, and doing it all at the same time. But there’s a reason that you can’t do everything. It’s because you’re probably overextended and no matter how badly you want to be, no one is Super Woman.

So in our opinion, the best way to say no is to ditch the over-the-top excuses. In most cases you don’t even need to offer a “why”; so unless it’s absolutely necessary don’t disclose the reason you’re saying no. A simple “Sorry, I can’t, I have a conflict with that” will suffice the majority of the time.

Remember, saying no to the monotonous duties that you pour on yourself will give you more time to spend advancing your career AND enjoying your family creating a better work/life balance.

Paying Kids To Go To School: An investment in the future?

A Cincinnati charter school is taking a new approach to solving an old problem. As of this week, Dohn Community High School is paying students to do the things that they already should be doing. The school’s seniors can earn a $25 Visa Gift Card each week if they achieve perfect attendance, exhibit timeliness, participate in class and stay out of trouble. Underclassmen can earn $10 per week for the same behaviors. Moreover, each time a student earns a gift card, $5 is placed in an account that will be payable to them upon successful graduation. The program is being funded by private donations and federal Work Investment Act and managed by the Easter Seals. The cost of the program is approximately $40,000-a-year for this school alone.

It may seem a little crazy to some that these kids are being paid to do what all kids do—go to school. Only, these kids weren’t going to school. Dohn’s attendance rate was at 84%, with only 14% of students graduating. And though it is certainly not the norm, this is not the first time a program of this nature has been established to benefit education. Some of them have been successful, others have not. However, it should be noted that these programs are more successful when they require students to attend school rather than to achieve favorable grades or outcomes.

So is it worth it? Is it even a good idea? Geoffrey Canada, founder of Harlem Children’s Zone, seems to think so. He stated, “Look, I’d love kids to attend class for the intrinsic value, and until then, I’d love them to do it for the money. I just want them to do it.” Whether you are in agreement with this approach or not, Canada’s statement is hard to refute. It may seem wrong to reward some kids for doing what is expected of all kids but if it is the only way to drive education in certain socioeconomic areas, isn’t it worth it? The underlying question seems to be, can we put a price tag on developing an educated society?

Happy Valentine's Day...

to all of the nannies and families in The Philadelphia Nanny Network!

How Ohio is Fighting Cyber-Bullying

Ohio House Bill 116 was made into law Thursday, February 2, 2012.

The law requires every school in Ohio to put a cyber-bullying policy into place. Goals include teaching students not to engage in cyber-bullying, training teachers on how to handle cyber-bullying and holding parents more accountable for their children’s online actions. Besides the obvious goal that is prevention of cyber-bullying, the law aims to raise awareness of an increasingly wide-spread and dangerous problem threatening today’s youth.

What will come as a result of this law? Will more and more states begin to walk in Ohio’s footsteps? Will any resulting laws be similar or are there inherent flaws in Ohio’s law that must be ironed out? Quite possibly the most interesting part of this law is the responsibility falling into the hands of the parents. This raises many questions. If a child is old enough to use the internet, aren’t they old enough to be held accountable for their own actions and speech? In the same vein, when are children old enough to begin using the internet and how closely should they be monitored? Though bullying is clearly a problem, does this not slightly impede of freedom of speech? Some may think that laws such as this are unnecessary and default to the popular mentality that “kids will be kids”. Still yet, aren’t preventative measures better than any alternative?

Valentine's Day Mementos Made Easy!

Valentine's Day can be challenging for the pocketbook and the schedule!   To help you out, here are some ideas for cute, easy to make or put together Valentine mementos...  

  

Heart inspired animals Simply cut out hearts and strategically place them with limbs and eyes to create your favorite animal friends

  

I dig you Plastic shovels and M&Ms wrapped in cellophane create an original and memorable valentine card

  

Best fishes, Valentine Use a simple pattern of three hearts cut out of construction paper to make a guppy-shaped card

  

Valentines for "Sole" Mates Trace them trace and cut out their foot so they can decorate it and deliver it to their "sole" mate

  

Brighten your valentine's day Utilize glow sticks and construction paper to create cupid's arrows

  

Listen to your heart Create faux MP3 player valentines with a box of candy hearts and peanut butter cups

Ideas for homemade Valentine's Day cards are popping up all over the web from Pinterest to Twitter. You can even do a quick Google search and discover countless adorable ideas with inexpensive materials and easy to follow instructions. 

Remember to give us a call to book your February sitters!  

610.645.6550

www.nannyagency.com

Can You Juggle Your Family and Your Professional Life?

Juggling different parts of your life is a difficult thing for any parent to achieve. Finding harmony between enjoying your home life and bolstering the success of your career or professional ventures can seem like a somewhat impossible task. But it doesn’t have to be impossible, or even improbable. The key to having it all is balance. This concept is often referred to as “work-life balance” and is becoming quite a popular subject for speculation and debate online, in print and on television and radio programs. Web MD features an article on this balance that has been reviewed by doctors. In this article, it is recommended that parents consider if any household chores or errands can be outsourced? This is why The Philadelphia Nanny Network has made a commitment to helping families in and around Philadelphia find household staff to assist in creating this balance. Visit our website to learn more about hiring and making the balance a possibility!

Some additional tips from WebMD can be found below.

5 tips to achieve a better work-life balance

1. Build downtime into your schedule
• In addition to scheduling meetings and appointments, also include date nights, outings with your kids and nights out with your friends
2. Drop activities that sap your time or energy
• Limit your time on social networks or talking to the office gossip
3. Rethink your errands
• Enlist help or outsource for household tasks and errands
4. Get moving
• Try to carve out some time to exercise once or twice per week--it will improve your mood and maximize your energy
5. Remember that a little relaxation goes a long way
• Never underestimate the importance of taking 10 minutes daily just to relax!