美国托儿所实施双标准幼儿安全难以保障_BEC初级作文

美国托儿所实施双标准幼儿安全难以保障

A Star Tribune review of 1,100 disciplinary actions issued since 2007 against Minnesota licensed day-care homes showed that the isolation of providers can play a significant role. More than 300 sanctions resulted from lapses in child supervision -- often because providers were spread thin.

In Rochester in 2010, a provider confined two preschoolers to a basement for seven hours (keeping one in a 4-foot-square pen) to keep them away from a furnace repair man. At a Rose Creek day care last fall, a 1-year-old was left unattended and wandered two blocks away to a hardware store.

Tighter enforcement?

To aid providers who are struggling with safety and quality, advocates believe Minnesota needs tougher standards and enforcement.

Many child deaths reviewed by the Star Tribune involved providers who didn't follow even basic safe-sleeping rules. At least 10 deaths since 2007 involved infants placed to sleep on their stomachs -- a clear violation of guidelines -- or on unsafe surfaces. Several deaths involved napping infants who weren't checked for long periods of time -- in one case three hours.

The state requires that in-home providers and center workers be within sight or hearing of sleeping infants. But only at child-care centers are workers required, in most cases, to visually check sleeping infants every 15 minutes.

In Kansas, which overhauled its child-care rules in 2010, in-home caregivers must check on sleeping children every 15 minutes. It is one of at least six states that require in-home providers to observe children during their nap times.