Jane, a petite just-turned-3-year-old, is new in Kristen’s class. Jane’s father brings her to the centre each day at breakfast time. The centre policy is to include milk to be served at breakfast and lunch. Like a number of children in the centre, Jane refuses milk and drinks water instead. Kristen allows children to make this choice. One day Jane’s father tells Kristen that he and his wife do not want her to allow Jane to drink water until she has drunk at least a full cup of milk. Kristen assures them that she will encourage Jane to drink her milk. At the next meal, Kristen tells Jane that her family wants her to drink milk so she’ll be healthy and grow strong. Jane sobs uncontrollably. Kristen comforts her and allows her to drink water. She tells Jane she will talk to Jane’s father about letting her drink water. Jane’s eyes grow wide, and she sobs even harder, saying, “Don’t tell Daddy! Don’t tell Daddy! Should Kristen honour the wishes of the family or allow Jane to continue to drink water instead of milk?
Consider whether there are any legal aspects to your ethical dilemma (Regs). If not then consider EYLF, NQS, UNCRC and the Code of Ethics. What specific aspects of these documents support the rights of the different roles of the dilemma (child/parent/educator) and make this dilemma more complex.
When you write for each role, really think about it like you are in their shoes, as if you were the child or the parent. You can pretend here that all three roles know what their rights are and what all the EC documents are – just for this pretend scenario.
