Guest Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 In our setting the children have a photo of themselves on their peg and undrneath their name. When they arrive they take their name and put it on the self registration board. I'm I breaking any confidentiality by doing this? I have signed permission from all parents to put the photos up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Are the parents aware that names are next to the pictures when they sign permission? My parents sign permission for photos, but I state we do not put names with photo's, but this is because we have a shared venue, so any display photo's don't have names. As well as parents informed permission, I'd suggest that you need to consider at what risk the children will be by having named photo's on display, who, from the general public, has access to see them, and would this access compromise the childrens safety. A good question and it does give food for thought. There needs to be a balance between over protection and common sense. If the aim is just for the children to identify where to hang their coats, then do you need to add the name? Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Peggy, I'm interested what risk you think we would be putting the children under by having a named photo in the setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 We display both children's photographs and namrs on their coat pegs and work trays. As the unit is secure and only authorised visitors can gain entry I do not see this as a risk. We do have parental permission for photographs and would never dream of identifying children by name in a more public place for example in newsletters or on the school web site. Personally I cant see a problem and none of our parents have ever expressed concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Beau, it must be nice to be so sheltered! There are issues for children of estranged parents with custody issues. At least thast what Ive come across! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Sally Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 We too have photos and names on their pegs. I think common sense prevails and if a child was in a custody battle or under a care order one would take the precautions they feel necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running Bunny Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 Hi, I think that in a shared venue, there could be the risk of a member of the the public with not necessarily honest intentions (if you get my drift) seeing the face and name and then approaching the child in the street/shop/park when they are playing and calling them by name. As adults, we are all aware of Child Protection and Stranger Danger, so doing the best to protect the children in the local community must be a priority. It's a sad state of affairs when we can't put names next to faces, but unfortunately that is the way of the world in 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 i agree with you running bunny, we have shared building and would never display childrens names along with pictures. we also state to parents, when we go out on trips, not to put there child in those caps with their name on the front. we only identify as our setting name. it would be a wonderful world if we didnt have to think like this, but as it is, there are so many dangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 But surely children of this age should not be out and about without a responsible adult anyway? I can understand that this may be an issue for older children, but not 3 and 4 year olds. And Susan, I'm having one of my dense moments here - I really am not trying to be contentious. What is the difference between putting a child's photo up in a setting, or putting a photo with a name, in the case of a custody battle? I'm just trying to see the common sense side as I think sometimes society has gone mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Beau, I see where you are coming from, and don't think you are being contentious. It is all about common sense and mainly about what type of setting you are working from, what children you have etc. As an example, last year I had a member of staff, who's child attended our setting, she had a very difficult and violent domestic situation and had to leave (ex kept coming to preschool to cause trouble). Her daughter remained at the preschool ( to maintain some sort of continuity in her life) The father came to the preschool trying to get access to her ( in a very threatening manner), so we, and the mum, told him she was no longer with us. All our visitors are checked on entry, from the man who comes in to mend the photocopier to the scout helpers who come in during december to sort the christmas post. Any one of these may know the father, but not the child, they may see and recognise the name, but not the picture and inform the father that the child is still with us. This is an extreme example, but the situation was very difficult and doing just one thing to maintain anoniminity ( spelling) helped reduce the risks. We also have 6 children attending who are" looked after" and it is imperitive that their whereabouts are kept as confidential as possible. These children are mainly from the London boroughs, just last week I had a parent visit who is moving to our area from london, I don't know her, I don't know if she lives in the same locality as one of our looked after children used to. What would happen if she recognised the name displayed of a child who she thought used to live in her area, goes back home innocently (or not) tells someone, "never guess what, so and so attends the preschool I visited", before long the parents of the child in care know where she is. Again this is a long shot, and extreme caution on our part. In respect of running bunnies comment, your right, young children should be with their parents when they are out and it is not necessarily a stranger danger issue, but more of the fact that most cases of abuse are carried out by people who are known to the child/family. Scenario: child is in the local park with mum, person who has learnt child's name(from the preschool) say's hello, introduces him/herself and starts up a conversation, - the worse scenario he/she gains their confidence, becomes a friend etc- these people are very manipulative calculating individuals. As I write this my "sensible head" say's Peggy you are really being OTT, I'm angry that I even have to think this way, the fact that placing a childs name with their photo could ( all be it a million to one odds) put a child at risk. The other side of the coin is that we all strive to recognise and value each child's identity to promote their self esteem, self worth and self identity, this is why we want to put their name with their photo. So all comments are valid, I think and it really depends on each settings individual circumstances to decide whether putting a name with a photo breaches any confidences. Just a thought, we ask parents permission but do we ask the childs permission, now there's another debate. Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 We do ask children if they want their name on their pegs and work trays, just a simple 'should we put your name on too?' up to now we have one child (autistic spectrum) who has been upset by his name in fact he crosses it off all his pictures bookes ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Sally Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I think that in a shared venue, there could be the risk of a member of the the public with not necessarily honest intentions (if you get my drift) seeing the face and name and then approaching the child in the street/shop/park when they are playing and calling them by name. The photo's we have displayed have only their first names. If someone with dishonest intentions wanted to find out the name of a child they could do so just by simply overhearing a mum, a dad, a teacher, another child etc call out the child's name. So are we now not going to call out a child's name in public or a shared venue? I am fully aware of the society we live in today but I think sometimes we can go OTT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Interesting and informative debate! I work in a pre-school in shared premises. I have struggled to get photos on pegs for a long time and this term opted for putting pictures on instead. I took some time finding about the children's interests etc and chose an appropriate image from clip art. The children are so thrilled and are proud to us and show-off their peg! Good hidden messages about valuing the children too. We have a problem with youth hanging around in our recessed porch at night and they could see the pegs in the security lighting so our peg names are on card and laminated, and can be put away at the end of each session - problem solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I too work in shared premises. I get the children to 'draw' a picture and then write their full name below then laminate it. I then put string through the top much like a calendar and hang them onto a hook at the begining of each session and then remove them at the end. They are never in the same place twice as this would take ages to do each day but the children get used to looking for their own picture each morning. iIalso get permission from parents to display their names in this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 We use a set of black & white symbols of things that can easily be drawn, e.g. house, star, apple, banana. There are 50+ altogether, so each child can choose one. We use the symbols on their tray labels, home/setting folders, planning books etc, as well as for the pegs. On the noticeboard that we use at greeting time we put up the symbols to indicate whose turn it is to help wipe the tables, who's away, etc etc. We find that even the youngest ones 'read' them very quickly, & some even draw their friends' symbols if they're 'writing' soemthing for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 We also have shared premises, and would not leave photos or childrens names out . we have had children attend from a womens refuge, parents are really scared that thier partner will find out where they and the family are and they have to move town yet again.(In one case the parent left photos of the person so we could call police if he showed up) In the same vein we have had to put up voile curtains at windows to stop anyone from being able to look in during a session. This has helped put several parents at ease and with security measures 'like fort knox' (one visitor said when unable to get out!!) they are happy to leave the children in our care. i think you have to be aware of and identify the risks and react accordingly. In our case other hall users are from support groups for Gambling, narcotic and alcohol abuse as well as a soup kithcen, childrens parties at weekends, occasionally weight watchers. you never know who is in the hall in the evenings. we do not name childrens work on display, just a sign of the world we live in and perhaps a fear of what could happen.. Inge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 we avoid using full names on anything that will be visible to others and we dont tend to use photos on displays we tend to used pictures rather than photos on coat pegs and self registration cards but this isn't because of child protection issues its because Im really tight and I can recycle some of the more comon name tags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Now that sounds like sound reasoning Alison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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