From: wang@ssd.intel.com (Wen-Lin Wang)
Subject: Biting in Daycare 
Organization: Supercomputer Systems Division (SSD), Intel
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 21:11:58 GMT

A while back when we started our daughter in daycare there was a dicussion on
this net about children who was bitten at daycare.  I read them all with 
great interest.  And Lo and behold, by the end of the first month at this 
new daycare, my child was bitten by a child in her class who has a biting
history.  It occurred when both of them want the same toy.

Now the daycare Caroline (28 mos) attends is generally good in many areas
(that's why we chose them).  They even have a policy dealing with biting that
lookes sound to innocent eyes.  I don't have much problem with the policy
though I do have questions regarding execution of the policy after we read
the incident report facilitated by the room teacher and talked to the head
teacher.

My concerns:

1. The treatment on the report indicated ice applied and tender care which
   were great.  What's missing is good washing and medication.  The head
   teacher confirmed that they do give a good washing but according to the
   law they can not give such medicine as neosporin (sp?) unless we provide
   them the medicine.  So I did provide it the very next day.  Shouldn't
   the law be spelled out more clearly on acceptable medication for on-site
   treatment?

2. The handling of the child who bites was not mentioned in the report.  But 
   according to the head teacher, they did'nt tell the child that it's wrong
   but they told the child repeated that it hurts the victim.  My reaction
   was that the reason toddler bites during a fight over a toy is to 'hurt' 
   the victim so the victim will yield.  Wouldn't it confirm that fact to
   the biter by telling him/her that it hurts the victim?

3. The school policy is if a child made three 'serious' bites, s/he is removed
   from the school.  What is a serious bite?  According to the head teacher,
   it's something like blood gushing out.  Well, Caroline got a small scar on
   a tooth mark and the other toothmarks still show after three days.  Is that
   serious?  What is so different between 'serious' bites and not-so-serious
   bites?  Isn't biting, like hitting, is an unacceptable behaviour?

4. The report and head teacher all emphasized the fact that this incident 
   happened over a toy.  It seemed to me that they think the behaviour is
   excusable because of a legitimate cause and thus the handling of the 
   biter can be more lenient.

We discussed all our concerns during the teacher/parent conference, but
all the above were dismissed and the school stand firm on their approaches.
We felt that we were regarded as over-reacting.  The teachers tried to
convince us that this is common and normal behaviour of toddlers.  Strange, 
this did not happen in the previous daycare.  Of kids we know none of them 
bites.  The head teacher, however, guaranteed that this would not happen to
Caroline again (of which we accepted but remain skeptical).  I also taught
Caroline to say 'NO BITING!' and push the biter away from her and call the
teacher for help next time she was about to be bitten.  But you know how
reliable that can be...

I would be away on vacation for next two weeks and won't have access to 
the net, therefore won't be able to collect info from here.  I would
appreciate it if you like to respond to this post, send it to me by email.
I would be happy to summarize if this is of interest to many.  Is there a
FAQ about biting, treatment of the victim, handling of the biter, and 
preventive procedures?

Wen-lin
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