Letting people into daycare

[Anonymous]

Our daycare's policy is that parents should not hold the door open for other people (everyone has a keycode to get in). However, nobody follows this rule. People hold the door for those behind them regularly, and people always follow right behind me like I'm going to hold it for them, and when I don't they get visibly pissed.

I'm not trying to be the crazy overprotective mom, and I realize the odds of anything bad happening are very slim, but I see this as a very simple and easy thing people can do to help ensure the kids' safety.

WWYD? Is this just a complete lost cause?

[Anonymous]

I think this is where courtesy trumps safety, although parents should of course LOOK at the person they're holding the door for. A gunman will be easy to recognize. A crazy parent who wants to kidnap his own child will not be. Different risks, different dangers.

[Anonymous]

I'd mention it to the daycare. They might post someone at the front door for a little while, or just remind everyone not to do it (and not to get offended if people do it to them!). We have this problem in our apartment building, too. Hard to know when to be a good neighbor versus not, but this is why having a clear and enforced policy is the most neutral one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think this is where courtesy trumps safety, although parents should of course LOOK at the person they're holding the door for. A gunman will be easy to recognize. A crazy parent who wants to kidnap his own child will not be. Different risks, different dangers.

I disagree. I don't want to have to judge people, and I don't want them judging me. A gunman or kidnapper are not the only people who I don't want milling around. Strollers are easy theft targets, etc. I'm by no means a paranoid citizen and prefer to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I'd also just rather have a no offense policy for my kid's daycare.

[Anonymous]

Not letting anyone shadow into the building is a standard safety precaution and the parents should follow the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think this is where courtesy trumps safety, although parents should of course LOOK at the person they're holding the door for. A gunman will be easy to recognize. A crazy parent who wants to kidnap his own child will not be. Different risks, different dangers.

I disagree. I don't want to have to judge people, and I don't want them judging me. A gunman or kidnapper are not the only people who I don't want milling around. Strollers are easy theft targets, etc. I'm by no means a paranoid citizen and prefer to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but I'd also just rather have a no offense policy for my kid's daycare.

Pp you responded to. I was envisioning a stand-alone daycare in a low-crime, but for a more gritty or simply busier setting, you might be right!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not letting anyone shadow into the building is a standard safety precaution and the parents should follow the rules.

I'd rather someone didn't let me in behind them - even if they just saw me let myself in yesterday. What if something changed in a day and you don't/couldn't/shouldn't know about it? This is why daycares and schools and office and apartment buildings spend so much money to set up systems - they can't work if they're not used properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not letting anyone shadow into the building is a standard safety precaution and the parents should follow the rules.

This. However, OP, are you new to the daycare? I will hold the door open for people I recognize and they will do the same for me, but if you observed us you wouldn't necessarily know that. I will not let people follow me who I don't recognize and I don't get mad at anyone who doesn't hold door open for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not letting anyone shadow into the building is a standard safety precaution and the parents should follow the rules.

I'd rather someone didn't let me in behind them - even if they just saw me let myself in yesterday. What if something changed in a day and you don't/couldn't/shouldn't know about it? This is why daycares and schools and office and apartment buildings spend so much money to set up systems - they can't work if they're not used properly.

+1

[Anonymous]

If that's the policy it should be followed and enforced. You could talk to them and suggest face send out a reminder email to all parents. The reminder would be to not take it personally if somebody does not hold the door open for them and as a reminder to not do it themselves. I think people i'm just trying to be nice. But with so many crazies out there it's always better to be safe especially around children .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not letting anyone shadow into the building is a standard safety precaution and the parents should follow the rules.

I'd rather someone didn't let me in behind them - even if they just saw me let myself in yesterday. What if something changed in a day and you don't/couldn't/shouldn't know about it? This is why daycares and schools and office and apartment buildings spend so much money to set up systems - they can't work if they're not used properly.

Sure, but practically speaking, unless the door code changed between today and yesterday, if the person you saw coded themselves in yesterday, they are gonna know the code today as well. My daycare has a code for parents that changes periodically, but it's also a small daycare, and now that we've been there for 6 months and what with people mostly having the same schedule day to day, I pretty much recognize all the parents that pick up the same time I do. Since there's only one code for parents, and I'd know if it had changed, my letting someone I recognize in or not is probably not the security threat the hypothetical situation makes it out to be. I wouldn't be mad if someone didn't hold the door for me either though.

[Anonymous]

Can you ask the daycare to put a reminder sign on the door so when you close it in a parents face the are reminded why on writing?

But I agree with PPs that once you know other parents on the same schedule it's kind of a jerk move to pretend you can't let them in.

[Anonymous]

My daycare is like Fort Knox...a badge swiper to get your car through a gate, a badge reader to get you in the front door, an armed guard checking badges, and a badge to get you to the classroom.

If someone I see every day doesn't let me into one of the doors, I'm pretty put out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daycare is like Fort Knox...a badge swiper to get your car through a gate, a badge reader to get you in the front door, an armed guard checking badges, and a badge to get you to the classroom.

If someone I see every day doesn't let me into one of the doors, I'm pretty put out.

Then be put out.

[Anonymous]

Can you ask to see their fob or ID? We have to check badges at work before holding the door. It can be a bit awkward but it's a serious rule.