Daycare Horror: Mexico Government to Blame
In Canada we do a lot of complaining about the availability and cost of quality daycare spots. We have also in the past strongly voiced our anger at the subsidised daycare in Quebec that sees them paying $7 a day for something we pay $30-40 dollars for here in Ontario. It is possible to find something a little cheaper than that, but still nothing beats the smaller at home day-cares run by caring moms who provide a fun, educational, and safe environment.
Occasionally problems arise concerning the ratio of staff to child. Sometimes 1-3 or 1-5 with the former being most desirable but not always possible. I think as long as the centre is upfront about those types of things then it’s something to be weighed against the other pros and cons.
The total number of children permitted in one centre is a little confusing to me, but it has a lot to do with ages, accommodations, and the number of caregivers physically present at all times. Obviously it is very strictly monitored and enforced. Apparently that is not so everywhere.
By now most of you have heard about that horrifying fire at a daycare in Mexico where 41 children died. At the time of the fire there was 142 children attending, and 6 staff. Six! That is like a 1-23 ratio. Parents arriving on the scene were frantic trying to get to their kids, some ramming their vehicles in to the walls to aid in the rescue. There was only 2 doors for entry or evacuation, and one of them was padlocked shut. The windows were too high for the children to reach.
Not a single smoke detector was working, and the sprinkler system was not installed properly so it did not go off either. Yet just two weeks ago the ABC daycare centre passed a fire inspection. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, and a lot of changes need to be made. But nothing is going to bring those children back.
None of the six staff members on duty at the time were injured.
28 Comments »
Leave a comment
My Info
I am very happily married and raising 5 children. Trying to make sense of it all, and living life to the fullest.. And, I pledge to drive less in 2009.
Also, please take the time to read and sign this petition to help protect our children. Thank you.
You can see my other blogs here. And here.
My chat room is here
email: seandjx@gmail.com
-
-
-
Blogroll
-
-
Just A Little Conerned- Killer on the loose in Canada
- H1N1 – Yes or No to Vaccine?
- Thanks to Our Military
- Video – Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
- Canada – Losing our Freedom
- Hope For Stacy – Car Wash Oct 10-11 @ The Brick 1525 Pitt st Cornwall
- Mitrice Richardson – Police to blame for missing girl?
- WSIB – Where does the money go?
- Phillip Garrido – Police dropped the ball
- 9/11 Do We Know The Truth?
-
Recent Comments
CeeA on caylee anthony CeeA on caylee anthony CeeA on Open Forum Terisa on caylee anthony Capy on caylee anthony -
BT
Childfind
FD
-
Archives
- November 2009 (1)
- October 2009 (7)
- September 2009 (4)
- August 2009 (4)
- July 2009 (6)
- June 2009 (5)
- May 2009 (8)
- April 2009 (5)
- March 2009 (6)
- February 2009 (5)
- January 2009 (7)
- December 2008 (20)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
I don’t know what the standards are in Mexico but it seems to me that even a ratio of 23-1 would be exceed or SHOULD exceed any countries standards…Mexico or not! Every child that lost their precious little life did NOT have to die! Those numbers are mind boggling. HOw can one person properly take care of 23 babies at one time. It’s ridiculous to think the lack of quality care that was going on in the daycare! How could the parents not have known that their children were NOT being properly taken care of! How could they not know just at a glance that the daycare was grossly overpopulated and wonder how their child could have been in “good hands”!
I’d really like to know how that daycare passed a fire safety inspection! There seems to be many faces who LOOKED the other way at the cost of 41 innocent children!
What are the standards for Mexico, although knowing this will NOT bring back these children, it would be interesting to know just how many broken laws and negligence cost these innocent children their lives!
RIP angels!
From these ashes new fire safety laws should be born, that’s the only good that can come from a tragedy like this. those poor little angels,I pray for those who are hospitalized and those children who lost their lives and the families,this is so horrible,I didn’t think I heard right,when it was reported a door was padlocked?thank you Sean for taking time to report so rapidly on this heartbreaking story.
Actually, Mexican media is reporting that there were 20 caregivers at the facility and about 6 were injured. several are still in hospital, including the mother of the little girl airlifted to Shriner’s hospital in California. Nevertheless, it is a terrible tragedy and hopefully it will result in better regulation of the industry in Mexico.
There are 20 caregivers employed there. Only six were present at the time of the fire.
Not according to this article
“Although government officials initially indicated only six caretakers were on duty at the day care Friday, Gastelum and other relatives said the day care had about 20 staffers on duty the day of the fire.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDESbS8CDoCCPyG1-Vgn5ejBvUCwD98M8U4G2
Don’t be so complacent. I have worked temporarily in daycares so I could move on to somewhere more permanent or better and have often noticed that at nap time the ratios are not enforced. Also often when an educator is sick or absent for an appointment there is doubling up going on.
The inspectors come twice a year if that and often phone before they come so the owner can call to quickly bring in relatives or friends to increase the numbers on hand.
I hope they are talking to the fire inspectors to find out just how this place passed an inspection. Someone needs to answer for this.
Nicola I have seen those things myself. I knew of one owner would load up kids ( would be many over capacity ) in her mini bus & have someone drive them around while the inspector was doing the review. Many older day cares aren’t up to current standards, some things are grandfathered in & aren’t required to be updated.
Parents can do their own head count & compare it to the capacity listed, I believe this is be posted by the front door or wall. Also you can contact the governing agency for a list of codes, check to see if your day care meets the requirements.
150+ people in a building with one open door, can you imagine what that was like?
Has anyone said what the cause of the fire was? I read it started next door. What set the fire?
I’d like to know too & was this during the day? Usually when people are awake they detect a fire starting & are able to get out. Was this a 2 story building? Was everyone asleep? Hard to understand why so many died unless it was an explosion of some sort.
found this at jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244035009565&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
“The fire apparently started at a car and tire depot Friday afternoon and spread to the ABC day care center, said Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for Sonora state investigators.”
Here is an article with a more info. Death toll is up to 44 now, 30 children are still in hospitals.
“The center sits in an industrial zone and shares a wall with a warehouse used by the state’s treasury department. Murrieta said there was “no doubt” the blaze began there, though it was not clear how.”
latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-daycare9-2009jun09,0,6482536.story
This is so horrible. Why were the safety measures so lax? I have a hard time with these fires. Anyone from the Chicago area, knows of the Our Lady of Angels fire from 1958 where 92 students and nuns perished in a horrific fire. Just the pictures from the OLA fire are enough for me. After viewing them, I almost can’t read about these stories anymore.
I had a neighbor who was a survivor from the OLA fire and she shared with me the survivor guilt she and many others had after this tragic event.
From the OLA home page:
“Those Who Cannot Remember The Past Are Condemned To Repeat It” -George Santayana
I pray for some peace for all the families that lost a child. What a tragedy.
Cubby
That’s horrible Cubby, I never heard of that before. How awful for your neighbour.
I pray for the families too. It must be an unimaginable grief.
Do you think the Mexican Government would let the Voices of Thunder, become inspectors for their daycare
facilities? Beast you should send your article to the inspectors office,maybe it would give them a hint on how they could have protected those babies. Safety should always have its arms around a baby.
I have heard of “pay offs”. I know of a Home for incurables back in PA. They “paid off” inspectors and would get 2 days notice before they came. They would re-arrange things, hide things, and get ready. I volunteered there, I know.
What is the good of having a staff of 20, if only 6 are there? And to move little children, quickly? WHAT ARE THEY THINKING – with one door locked? IF they HAVE to have it locked, what about a dead bolt that ANY ADULT can UNDO, and way high up so no children can get it? Their door was chained and pad locked??
The Director needs to go to jail, for life. So many precious little innocent lives, lost AGAIN, because of adult stupidity. The BABIES ALWAYS PAY!
Beast its very true Mexico has next to nothing in safety regulation. I believe it goes to the poverty of the country. If you implement regulation, it becomes costly for everyone so the government does nothing.
Some here know I have a home near a small village in Mexico. Our family spends up to 2 months a year there helping the children.
Poverty is deep and rampant. Houses that are put together with sticks & mud. Old faded lead based paint playgrounds for the kids still being used. Schools with some walls missing, we thought were abandoned. They are not, they are the current schools. It’s a vicious cycle. We go there to make a difference with a few families in hopes that it will make a difference for their futures. We provide on a small basis, OLPC laptops for some families there. If the poverty stricken children can be educated, then the cycle ultimately will cease. But that takes generations, education and the support of their government…
I have to post in parts, this is getting long.
What many may not know about the Mexican gov’t is this: once a child reaches grade 7, there are profound fees involved for children to continue with their education. Up to $60 per month. When you have families existing on less than $200/mo you can see how children cannot continue with education. It’s infuriating to know the Mexican gov’t isn’t doing enough to educate the children in their county. As if keeping families in a poverished setting is beneficial to the country.
Most village children do not continue schooling. Instead after grade 6, they quit and go work with their parents picking produce in fields.
ooops, impoverished it should read
It’s shocking to know in North America, we have a 3rd world country. Mexican government by far, does very little to help their citizens.
There’s no easy solution or easy answer to these problems. If you regulate daycares and other businesses, they will cease to exist because there is very little money coming in and no assistance from the gov’t. It starts with educating both the government and the people.
A small example:
if you go on the beach near our house. In some populated spots on the beach, it’s littered with garbage. It’s not because the mexican citizens don’t care about the environment… it’s that they do not understand the impact, they do not understand that the plastic bottle they just tossed will be there 2000 years from now. We’ve all had to be educated about the 3R’s. So that’s just a small example.
I’m not saying what happened in Mexico is not horrific. There should be something done about this. I’m just saying that it’s a much larger problem than just implementing a few rules. It isn’t easy.
When you have impoverished families loading 20 people in the back of a pick up to go to the fields to pick for 12 hours a day… they don’t have time, money or the ability to understand why changes are needed.
Its sad to say, but in our backyard, there is child labour. It’s not just a problem in China. WHEN that stops and children can ALL have the equal opportunity to obtain a grade 12 education – then we will see great changes in Mexico. Until then, there will continue to be vast safety issues for all their citizens. They are all just trying to survive and eat. We can do more to help.
Thought I’d share:
Here’s a pic with Jose & Cesar receiving their laptop… my daughter with them. Caesar sitting down is looking at a webcam showing his face on the screen. He was mesmerized for about an hour with that feature.
img36.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pc220033.jpg
This is one example of the homes people live in…
img37.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1030117.jpg
Thank you for that picture Patty! It makes me smile so hard it hurts. You are an amazing woman! and I am in awe of the difference you are making for these kids!
I was referring to the one of the kids!
The picture of the house is a great example of the situation in general. The cycle of poverty needs to be broken!
YW… my kids cry when they have to leave. When they’re there, they don’t care about ipods & guitar hero… they love being a part of helping the kids. I’m proud of them.
I wish safety would be priority for all children. If they don’t know any different, where do we start? The majority of Mexicans are very uneducated because of severe poverity and that makes for ignorance. Not on purpose but just because it’s the way it is.
my spelling lol, sorry the mistakes
When my kids were teenagers we took them & one of their friends to Playa. As pay back for the liquor store found in their rooms & not being able to find one son for half a day ( girl, another hotel ) etc. I booked a bus trip to the Mayan ruins.
Tour guide is telling us the history of the coliseum games, the winner was beheaded & immortalized with a cement likeness of his head. My one son whispers in my ear “that’s a good way to create a civilization of losers.”
Patty it is awesome what you do to help others, you are a kind soul.
Kay, at the time this article was written the numbers are/were correct. The person you have quoted as saying something different is not a Gov official or even employed by ABC. When the official report is released I will update with additional info then. But that is only one small detail, 42 children are dead. Let’s try to concentrate on the important issues.