“With the current laws and the shortage of personnel, it is often impossible to make the children happy there. In some structures, they are neglected every day, and sometimes abused.” After three different positions in associative nurseries in the east of France, this is how Laura *, educator of young children (EJE), describes to L’Express her experience in the world of early childhood. During a long investigation, about thirty professionals in the field, like her, agreed to tell the story of the unprecedented shortage in the sector, and the devastating consequences of this lack of personnel on their daily lives.
For children, who do not always have the ability to express themselves, the price to pay is immense. Sometimes left alone or badly accompanied, neglected by overwhelmed professionals, malnourished or changed too infrequently… they would be, in certain structures, subjected to “chronic violence”, regrets Frédéric Groux, former EJE and head of establishment, become psychologist and nursery teacher. “It is not the professionals who are directly responsible for these facts, but the current operation of the crèches”, he laments, while more than 10,000 positions are currently vacant in the reception establishments for young children ( ECEA). Interview.
L’Express: According to a CNAF study from last July, 10,000 positions are currently vacant in French nurseries. Consequently, many professionals denounce an incessant turnover in the field, and difficulties in respecting the supervision rates provided for by law. But what are the consequences of this shortage on children?
Frederic Groux: There are several levels of consequences, including inevitable and sometimes chronic violence in nurseries, in particular caused by the tension linked to the lack of staff, or to less qualitative recruitment. First, there is physical abuse, with direct attacks on children’s bodies, which we hear a lot about because they are very high profile and shocking. But paradoxically, these abuses are the least numerous, and fortunately, they remain rare. Then there is much more widespread violence, which corresponds more to negligence, particularly at the emotional level. A child needs to be spoken to, touched, protected. The turnover and the current shortage of professionals do not always make it possible to meet these basic needs of children, which can cause them to show signs of anxiety, eczema, sleep disorders, or even food. In the most extreme cases, we can also see children who will have aggressive behavior or language delays.
There is also violence due to deficiencies, in particular food, with a lack of water or food in sufficient quantity. Often overwhelmed, professionals will for example forget to regularly serve glasses of water to children who nevertheless need to hydrate up to 1 to 1.5 liters per day. This can lead to developmental delays in children, particularly in terms of weight and height, or, again, eating disorders. Unfortunately, these different types of violence sometimes add up: in some structures, there is physical, psychological and verbal abuse, as well as nutritional deficiencies. It should also be emphasized that it is not the professionals who are directly responsible for these facts, but the current operation of the crèches.
You speak of “fundamental needs of the child” which are currently “not respected” in certain structures. What consequences can these shortcomings and negligence have outside of the day-to-day life of the child in the crèche?
The risk is to create insecurity in the child. A child under the age of three needs to be spoken to, to be recognized. All scientific studies, including the commission “first 1000 days” launched by Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and entrusted to the Secretary of State for Children at the time Adrien Taquet, go in this direction. Professionals who change every day will obviously know how to change a diaper, but will have no idea how the child likes to take his bottle, the temperature at which he drinks it, the time of day when he is likely to eat better… The child feels it, and this anguish does not stop once the doors of the crèche are closed. A baby doesn’t just need care, as was thought in the 1960s. It’s not just a digestive tract, it’s an individual person, with individual needs. There needs to be continuity of care, and not an overlap of faces that touch him without even having time to talk to him. You wouldn’t accept it as an adult, so how can you accept it for children?
Professionals told L’Express of their strong emotional distress in the field: burnout, crying spells, irritation, even chronic fatigue, even leading them to take a nap with the children. Can the latter feel this distress, and what are the consequences for their development?
Babies are emotional sponges. We must not forget that the first language of children is the body. They are therefore very sensitive to the depression of professionals: when there is no mental and physical availability, some children will withdraw into themselves because they understand that the adult is not ready to take care of him. Conversely, we can also have children who will want to stimulate the adult to wake him up, get him out of his sadness, and will therefore throw toys, climb on tables, make noise… We find in fact the same reactions than when faced with parental depression.
The problem is that when you have nurseries that are chronically dysfunctional, there is a risk of professional deviation. If, every day for months or even years, you have been understaffed even though there are too many children, and you have warned the management and/or the parents several times without reaction, the body ends up talking. There can therefore be sadness or exhaustion, but also excesses in terms of violence, verbal or physical. Less and less trained professionals, fewer and fewer checks and more and more children… The current system unfortunately entails a risk of increasing “slippage”.
Precisely, the question of the training of professionals often came up in our survey. According to some specialists, it would not be up to the challenges of the early childhood sector. What do you think ?
Professionals in France have, in my opinion, a rather good base… even if it will never be sufficient. But they don’t have time to apply in the field what they learned in the training center. There is today too great a difference between practice and theory, quite simply. Most education and support methods take time, and can only be put in place if the professional knows the child, his habits, his needs… Which is far from being the case today. For lack of time, directors may not agree with these methods, and favor “old-fashioned” methods, which are not up to date, particularly in terms of child psychology and pedagogy.
Result ? Most trainees are disgusted with work in a crèche even before having started a real contract, because they feel like they are doing babysitting, daycare, rather than real support for the child. Many have the feeling of being in a mechanical and worthless job, and therefore prefer to move towards other jobs, such as childminder for example. This also partly explains the shortage of professionals.
Specific and educational support, often highlighted on the sites of large private groups or town halls (bilingual crèches, learning sign language, socialization, etc.), is it currently respected in crèches?
With regard to inclusion, of course, the management will insist with parents on this theme, by promoting the reception of children with disabilities, for example. But babies with special needs ask for a person for their well-being: unfortunately this has not been possible for years. Understaffed teams clearly do not allow for such a welcome.
The pedagogical project, then, is supposed to be the guideline for professionals in the crèche, thought out as a team and then applied in the structure. But faced with the current turnover, when your colleagues change every two months, even every week, when you see a temporary worker, then a temporary worker, then an intern, who go from crèche to crèche, this consistency between professionals n no longer exists. The lack of time and money leads to the disappearance of meetings allowing the construction of the educational project. We ask professionals to think about activities even though they don’t have time to provide food and drink, imagine! Especially since in the majority of cases, the famous pedagogical project is not individualized in relation to the place or the children, but modeled on a preconceived model. Often, professionals do not even know it. In reality, in many places it is just a form of marketing.
*Name has been changed.