Parenting

Day Care Worker Fired After Flipping Off Kids In Snapchat Post

by Jerriann Sullivan

Day Care Worked Fired After Filming Kids Instead of Watching Them

An Arizona day care worker was recently fired and is allegedly receiving death threats after flipping off kids in a Snapchat post, Fox 19 News reported.

The 19-year-old woman held up her middle finger in front of a young child’s face and added the caption, “swear i love kids.”

The post was seen by at least one parent, who contacted Dorothy Thornton, the owner of Kids Play. Like any reasonable child care provider, Thornton fired the worker when she confessed to the post.

I assumed the woman would have thought, ” better not,” when considering publishing the video. Employees being fired over scandalous social media posts is common. Especially since she has a crucial job – protecting and caring for children.

If kids could take care of themselves, they wouldn’t be in day care. No parent would want someone like this watching their kids because it shows a complete lack of judgment. Why wasn’t she watching the tiny humans instead of filming them?

“She’s filming and then I see a finger birdie,” Thornton said, “I had to let her go. She shouldn’t have had her cellphone out. She’s watching kids.”

Apparently a few people were so outraged that they sent the former day care worker death threats, Thornton told reporters.

What is even more terrifying than the original incident were the accusations that followed that the worker was taking videos of the children playing in toilets and fighting.

Thornton called the Mesa Police Department to investigate the possible neglect, which is a huge concern for any parent putting their child in day care. It is unclear how many fatalities are linked to child care annually, but not paying proper attention is surely part of the problem. No one noticed a toddler wander off at an Indiana church day care in 2012. He fell into a baptismal pool and drowned.

Investigators said no crime was committed by the Arizona day care worker. It is still unclear how many videos she had taken of the children. Obviously, she should have made zero videos. A general principle is not to record other people’s children unless there is a particular reason to do so like a class performance that some parents might otherwise miss.

The incident also serves as a good reminder that Snapchat posts aren’t always deleted. The mobile messaging app was forced to admit this last year in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. While the deletion feature functions inside the app, recipients can view and save the snaps forever.

The alleged death threats the woman has been receiving are over the top, but we can be thankful the day care owner canned her. Trusting a business or organization to care for your children is a hard enough task for parents. They don’t need the added stress of worrying if their kid is going to make it onto a social media site or be neglected so an employee can update her Snapchat.