What do you think the role of the director should be in talking with parents about the biting problem?

Lena teaches a toddler class in which the parents are very upset about a child’s repeatedbiting. How can Lena help Ellen, who is almost 2, stop biting and also help the parents who are worried about their own children?

As I hug Jessica, applying ice to the red mark on her arm, I can’t
help feeling frustrated by the
problems that Ellen is creating with her repeated biting. It’s October in our toddler
room. Our 16 youngsters
range in age from just turn-
ing 2 to young 3s. Our room
is small but well equipped; I
like to think of it as cozy.

I’ve worked at the center for
15years, most of the time with the toddlers. Gretchen, one of the assistant teachers, has been here even longer. I think we’ve lost count of how many years she’s helped in our toddler room.

Latoya, our other assistant, just started over the summer. She’s young and enthusiastic and has brought a lot of energy into our classroom.

I love the joys and challenges of this age group. One of the inevi-
table difficulties, however, seems to be biting. Almost every year
we have a child who occasionally tries out a bite or two. This year
Ellen has presented us with this challenge, only it seems a bit worse than those I’ve dealt with before.

Ellen is not quite 2 yet. She is inquisitive, curious, and full of en- ergy (like most 2-year-olds I guess!). She seems fascinated with the other children and spends a lot of time watching them and following them around.

Every so often she just leans over and bites-a leg, an arm, whatever intrigues her at the moment. Of course she gets a huge reaction from this, which interests her even more!

I think that Ellen’s biting is part of her need to explore her world. Babies learn right after birth to explore their environments with
their mouths. It seems reasonable to me that Ellen still has this pattern of behavior and is exploring what happens when she bites, and
the reactions she gets have added to the allure. We sternly let her
know that biting is not acceptable, and we try to give our attention to the victim rather than to Ellen.

We have spoken to Ellen’s parents about her biting. They of course are horrified. I’ve tried to let them know that it’s a natural part of her learning and exploration and that it will soon stop, but they are clearly upset. Every afternoon they approach me apprehensively and ask How was Ellen today?” They have tried hard to get Ellen to stop biting, but the behavior continues. I’ve been through this with other children, and I really do have confidence that Ellen will
learn and that the behavior”Will decrease and then end.

Meanwhile the other parents in the toddler room are going crazy over this. I’ve tried to protect Ellen’s privacy, but the parents gossip and they know who’s doing the biting.

Some parents tell their children
to stay away from Ellen, some have complained to the director. I
explain calmly that we too are very concerned and are dealing with
the problem. I also explain to parents that some behaviors are an
inevitable part of group care. We’ve even had parents from other
classrooms ask their teachers about the biting and what’s being
done about it. I’m not sure why they’re worried when it’s not in their children’s classes.

Last night I attended a meeting of the Parent Advisory Committee. When we got to new business, one of the parents from my class brought up the biting problem. “Would it be possible to put something in the newsletter?” Mrs. Weng asked. “Perhaps you could ask parents to explain to their children that biting is not allowed at school.”
I was very surprised. How could parents think that the biting would end if a parent just “explained” to his child that biting was bad? Don’t they realize what the parents of the biter are going through? Or how hard they are working to get her to stop? Or the stress that they are under? I can understand how upsetting it must be to have your child bitten at school; however, some of these par- ents are really blowing the problem out of proportion, aren’t they?

Discussion questions

1. What do you think about the way Lena is handling the challenge of getting Ellen to stop biting? Can you think of a different approach that might be more successful or other ideas that Lena could try? What health and safety concerns, especially regarding communicable diseases, need to be considered?

2. How would you reply to Mrs. Weng? What would you say to the parents in this class?

3. What do you think the role of the director should be in talking with parents about the biting problem?

4. Why do you think Ellen is biting? Do you think Lena is right? What do you know about this age that would help you understand Ellen? How can Jean Piaget’s developmental theory help us understand? How about Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development? Erik Erikson’s stages of psycho- social development?

5. Retell this case from the perspective of one of the toddlers’ parents. Now tell it from Ellen’s parents’ standpoint. What can you learn from vi