altercation heard while passing p.s. daycare center

19thstreet · August 2010

i was walking past a daycare center today at 11:37am, and heard a young child wailing and crying in a very distressed way. in the background, i heard a woman yelling loudly and (i would say) abusively. this went on for a two minutes-- with the child's wailing escalating, and the woman's voice rising-- she really sounded like she had lost control. i then heard a door slam and couldn't really hear anything through the window anymore.

while i have no idea if the situation was physically abusive, i do know that no child should be treated that way. if i was a parent, i would want to know. at the same time, i am unsure of the best procedure for filing a complaint/charge/etc, especially when i don't have all of the facts about what was actually happening.

any advice would be appreciated.

homeowner · August 2010

You don't know what was happening inside, so I'd be cautious about filing a complaint. For example, it could have been a parent who was called to the daycare to take a child out that had done something to another student (said parent then yellling at their own kid). Or it could have been an adult yelling at another adult for something they did or did not do to/for a child.

If you feel something was wrong, the thing to do would have been to go in the building immediately and inquire about what was happening. But seeking after the fact to file a complaint/charge/etc. without actually knowing what was happening or having brought it to the attention of someone at the facility at the time is probably not going to go anywhere, especially when you have zero information about what was occurring.

onandon · August 2010

You could also post the name of the daycare and ask parents who have their kids there to inquire...not making any accusations but saying I heard something that didn't sound right for a daycare and if you have your children there you might want to find out what was going on today.

A sure fire way to make sure people look into it would be to post it on parkslopeparents.com

landlord · August 2010

I agree with onandon.

elgoats · August 2010

Yea, post something on ParkSlopeParntes, i agree...thats a good idea

good luck!
these are always delicate situations...

putnam-denizen · August 2010

Did this happen in Park Slope - if so why is on this neighborhood board?

mary · August 2010

Kudos to 19th Street for caring enough to write with her/his concerns. I agree that this should be reported to someone who can investigate. It was not an "accusation", rather, it was an observation. If one heard a loud blast (like a gunshot) and at the same time heard a scream, hey, the two might not be at all related--perhaps it was a firecracker on the one hand and someone sat on a tack that caused the scream. That reasoning is as logical as "a parent might have been called in and was yelling at her own child." But I do believe anything suspicious should be reported, and especially when a small child is (possibly) involved. Again, no accusations, but other children at the school might have been witnesses, also. I sincerely hope it was "an adult yelling at an adult", but then why would the child be crying? And to Putnam-denizen, what difference does it make which board it was posted on, if a situation existed that needs attention for the safety of a child?

altercation heard while passing p.s. daycare center

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