It's late Sunday evening and I've just checked my work schedule. For reference, I have been working as a leader/camp counselor at a before and after school program/summer camp for 5 months now. The schedule showed the name of a person who, last Friday, slapped a 12 year old boy on his arm after filming the boy's behavior and threatening him with calling authorities (he was pretending a stick was a gun and refused to stop).
Being that I am a leader and not a director or even an assistant director, I called my higher-up to explain everything that happened, asking what the next steps are. He said not to worry about it and to have all the kids gather for a meeting to clean up… What does that have to do with the kid who was just physically assaulted by a staff member?!?
Overwhelmed, I let three of my coworkers take breaks so they could calm down, while I ran drop-off, Pre-K, and the outdoor area. On top of that, my management let two staff members leave early, so we only had 5 staff members covering the entire site (35 kids), while two staff members are in their teens and can't legally be alone with the children and one of the adults was the one who committed the heinous acts. I had no authority to tell my coworker to leave since my boss said they could stay, which really concerned me.
I ended up having to tell the poor kid's mom everything I had heard from staff and other kids as I didn't see anything myself since I was covering Pre-K at the time. She looked absolutely horrified and on top of that one of the directors on site (not higher-ups) had a panic attack because they felt it was their fault the incident happened in the first place since they were there. I called my boss again and again till he picked up so the mother could get an explanation straight from him because I was NOT going to take the fall for his terrible management skills. I unfortunately don't know what they discussed since I figured the call should be private.
Why am I (21) getting paid the same as higschoolers while I have 8 years of childcare/preschool teaching under my belt, taking in all the responsibilities of my own boss and directors? Because my boss has no idea how to safely run a childcare facility/summer camp.
All the toys here are NOT developmentally appropriate for the age groups we have and most of those toys are missing too many pieces to be fun anymore and/or are broken/dirty/ducktaped. I live in a mountain town where a $700,000 house is considered cheap. There is absolutely no way my boss can afford to own a home up here while not being able to simply purchase the art supplies, games, and toys I've been reminding him to get, yet he keeps 'forgetting'. The kids are so so bored and I feel really bad for them, however, I don't have the financial means to help buy this stuff for them, nor is that my responsibility.
I've known a lot of these kids and their parents since I was in highschool from babysitting to being their kiddos' teacher. I've watched so many amazing and absolutely wonderful kids grow up and seeing them end up in such a nasty, unprofessional, and unsafe summer camp breaks my heart. A part of me wants to stay for piece of mind, but another part of me wants to reach out to some parents I'm close with and let them know what's going on. I also want to quit tonight at this point since my boss scheduled someone willing to scream at, film, and slap a child. My boss constantly lets my coworkers take weeks off at a time while I haven't had more than two days unscheduled so far.
I work 10 hour days 4 days a week, but I had to ask for a lunch break because they said we didn't get one unless we sent an email (which they never once communicated prior).
What am I doing here when I have two interviews this week with nannying companies who will pay me twice as much at starting pay 🤦️
I want to get out of here and the things I've shared are only a small part of everything we've dealt with unfortunately.
My plan is to call in sick tomorrow and immediately make a report to my state's health department as well as child protective services' hotline. My dad said I should try taking to my boss before emailing my boss's boss. While I get why that is logical, in this situation, I truly think it'll only make things worse.
Sorry this post is all over the place. Kinda a rant, but I appreciate any advice, commentary, criticism. Thanks.
Edit: revised grammatical errors