"In order to check thoroughly, I sometimes even reach in to feel. If any child has soiled their pants, I would get my hands dirty," Ms. Shi said. In such situations, she wasn't sure what appropriate method she should adopt. If the children or parents have any opinions on this practice, they can communicate with her.
"Previously, there was an incident in the class where a child soiled their pants and was too embarrassed to say anything," said Ms. Shi, the head teacher of Class 1 in kindergarten. At that time, out of helplessness, she pulled down each child's pants from behind one by one, rather than requiring all the children to take off their pants collectively as the children had said.
"If it turns out to be true, we will handle it seriously." The children involved were from Class 1 of Xingqing Kindergarten who were asked to take off their pants for inspection.
Experts suggest that teachers should use appropriate methods to guide the children.
Ms. Tan found out that when she picked up her child from the kindergarten on the afternoon of December 27th, the children in her daughter's class were still whispering to each other after leaving the kindergarten gate. It turned out that before school was over, the teacher smelled a foul odor in the classroom and suspected that a child had soiled their pants. Since no one admitted after several inquiries, the teacher let all the children take off their pants for inspection.
If the situation is confirmed to be true, the kindergarten will severely deal with the involved teacher, comfort and compensate the children whose self-esteem has been hurt, and sincerely apologize to the parents.
Most parents believe that the kindergarten teachers are very caring and cherishing towards the children. "When I first heard about this from my child, I didn't believe it. After confirming with a few other parents, I was indeed angry at first," said Ms. Zhang, a parent. "Isn't there a better way? How do we protect the children's self-esteem?"
On the afternoon of the same day, when the reporter met with more than 30 children from Class 1, the children started chattering again. "The teacher asked who soiled their pants, but everyone said no. Later, the teacher made us stand in front of the classroom and take off our pants," a little girl said softly while looking down. "I didn't take mine off." "You did, I saw it," a boy sitting beside her jumped up and said. When the reporter asked why the girl lied, she replied, "There are more boys in my class, and I felt very embarrassed when the teacher asked us to take off our pants."
"Children start developing self-esteem from the age of three. Teachers and parents should respect and strive to protect it. If a child's private parts are exposed in public, their self-esteem will inevitably be hurt," said Ms. Song Xin, President of Shaanxi Mental Health Education Research Association. Children aged five or six also have some awareness of gender. Boys and girls being asked to take off their pants together is not only inappropriate, but the children will also feel very embarrassed. If a child is found by the kindergarten teacher to have soiled their pants, not only will they be exposed in public, but they may also be considered dishonest or laughed at by their peers. Teachers should use scientific methods and guide the children appropriately in the right setting.
Ms. Shi admitted that since it was close to dismissal time, she indeed didn't have enough time to take each child to the restroom for individual checks. Instead, she had the children stand in place while she checked each child by pulling down their pants. During the process, it was possible that the buttocks of the children being inspected were exposed to the other children. At that time, the classroom was bustling, and she failed to consider the feelings of the children.
In order to verify whether what the children said was true, Ms. Tan contacted a few other parents in the class. The parents learned from their own children that the incident indeed happened.
"It is a common practice for teachers to investigate when they smell a foul odor in the classroom," said Ms. Jing Wen, a teacher in the kindergarten's health room. However, if the children said they were required to take off their pants collectively for inspection, it was indeed inappropriate. But perhaps some children didn't mind, thinking the teacher was playing a game with them.
More parents expressed that they felt helpless. "This teacher has been with the children since they entered the kindergarten, and has always communicated well with the parents. Making things unpleasant with the teacher over this issue won't benefit the children," said one parent frankly.
The kindergarten stated that since this incident has occurred, the school will conduct an investigation in the class and hold a parent meeting to explain and clarify the matter. If the situation described by the children is confirmed to be true, the kindergarten will severely deal with the involved teacher, comfort and compensate the children whose self-esteem has been hurt, and sincerely apologize to the parents.