Scenario: Parent Not Wanting Child To Sing Happy Birthday

[chloe2812]

hi i'm on my last case study and wondering if you could help me out?

Case study 3:

A parent of a child in the 3-5-year-old children’s room asked staff not to allow her child to join in the singing of Happy Birthday to other children as this practice conflicted with the family’s religious beliefs. The parent was shocked to see a photo of the group displayed on the notice board which included her child singing Happy Birthday to her child’s best friend. She complained to the centre’s director about this matter

You are the staff member that allowed the child to sing happy birthday. Draft a response on how you would handle your supervisor asking why this happened and how you would go about it differently in the future.
Specifically you need to identify:
What the potential ethical issue is and what parties are involved
how these impact individual workers, and the consequences of breaches
Identify a potential work practice improvement to enhance workplace responsiveness or to prevent such issues arising again.

My answer so far:

I would handle my supervisor by admitting what I had done was wrong and explain that I had felt bad as the child started to cry when she was asked to go to another room as the cake was bought out it was her friends birthday so I decided not to exclude her and upset her any further, in future I would ensure the child is removed and taken to another room with a educator before a celebration if a parent requests their child not to participate.

The potential ethical issue is that the parents wishes need to be respected and their religious practices need to be followed as per their request. The child may have wanted to participate so the educator (me) felt that they were doing the best for the child’s emotional well being by allowing their participation.

Parties involved would include: Myself, other staff members, child and parent

This impacts individual workers by: lack of cultural competence... unsure if this answer is right i can't find anything about it

Breaches: again not sure as i can't find anything

Workplace improvement: I would identify celebrations on a calendar and program accordingly to ensure the child is placed in another room before the celebration begins.


Thankyou

[Lorina]

Yes, you're on the right track... you could place the child in another room before the birthday celebrations begin or you could even revise the way you celebrate birthdays at the centre to include and involve everyone. For example: is it necessary to sing "Happy Birthday" and have a cake? What other ways could birthdays be celebrated that involve all children?

,
Lorina

[chloe2812]

thank you