Aggressive behaviour such as biting should be stopped before it escalates
According to a report on Stomp, a pre-schooler was bitten multiple times by her classmates. Below is an excerpt of what the parent wrote:
“On Feb 19 I got a call at 5.39pm from the childcare centre, saying she was bitten by a classmate. This is the second time in 10 days!
“Just before CNY, my child got bitten on her arm and it swelled up. Nobody contacted or informed us about it. We only realised while bathing her that night. We confronted the teacher the next day, who only then explained that she had forgotten to tell us. We were angry but didn’t pursue the matter.
“On Feb 19, I asked if the bite on her cheek was serious; if it’s bleeding and if she is alright. Answer given by the teacher was, ‘Don’t worry, only a small bruise, not swollen, already iced her cheek’.
“When we brought her to the doc, he too was shocked. The diagnosis came out to be very bad and she’s having an infection right now. We were prescribed antibiotics and a cream to apply, however her cheek is still very swollen today. My daughter wakes up in the middle of the night crying for her mummy.
“She was bitten twice with one on her left cheek, and one near her chin on her right. It seems the one on her chin was already done in the morning, while the one on her cheek was done in the afternoon.
“Worse, we only found out today that these 2 bites are by 2 DIFFERENT KIDS! We found out who bit her on her cheek and the child and parents apologised to us. We also found out who bit her on her arm but we do not wish to pursue the matter and that bite has already healed. However, we do not know who bit her on her chin.
“The teachers said because there wasn’t a commotion so they didn’t realise until she was bitten on her cheek and cried then they knew about it.
“There are two teachers to a class of five toddlers. There should be someone watching the kids the whole time, as kids might unknowingly get into fights when playing.
“My daughter got bitten thrice. Is there any trigger for this to happen? One of the toddlers who bit her is her close friend so we were quite shocked.
“This is seriously unacceptable! The centre is giving us such irresponsible answers. We do not blame the kid who bit our child, as we understand kids get into minor fights/struggles when they are playing together, but I think the centre must improve on their management.”
A lack of supervision?
The issue the parent seems to have is with the school and the teachers. How did the incident escalate to the girl being bitten multiple times in the course of a few days? Is there a lack of supervision in the class? Why did the teacher not explain clearly the situation to the parents and what was the trigger for the girl being targetted?
A traumatic experience
Getting bitten multiple times in the course of a week is not a pleasant experience for anyone especially a young child. The little girl probably felt traumatised, especially from the reactions of her parents.
A biting problem
The real problem that needs to be immediately addressed is the issue of biting. What has the teacher done to curb this practice in the classroom especially since this was not the first time the girl was bitten.
Dealing with the bite
Incidents of biting in kindergaten are rather common but they can become a big problem when not dealt with immediately.
Here are some ways that teachers can deal with biting incidences in their classroom.
- Step in and stop it immediately
- Speak to the child displaying the aggressive behaviour in a calm but stern voice. Do not shout at them but clearly state that their behaviour such as biting is not okay.
- Remove the aggressor from the situation to cool them down, especially if they had bitten the other child out of anger.
- Understand WHY the child is biting her classmates. This allows you to deal with the root of the problem instead of just curbing the action.