Childcare final assignment

Using the Code of Ethical Conduct

A 3 year old boy in our class loves wearing the fairy costume during
imaginative play. His father came in one day and told him to get it
off and informed us, he did not want the child to wear and girly
costumes.
Parent He felt his son should only dress up using more male
gender specified costumes.
Teacher Every child should have the option of being creative and
experimenting with different roles as to not create gender bias
Child Really likes the costume, it sparkles and is an interesting
texture.
Possible solutions

Tell the child he is no longer allowed to wear the costume.

Allow the child to continue wearing the costume against the
fathers wishes.
Remove the costume from the dress up area.
Get another costume with sparkles and same material but less
feminine looking.
Doing away with all gender bias costumes.
Talk to the parent and explain that every child in the room
wears that costume, not only the girls as to not create gender
bias. Also explain why their child could be attracted to it.
Bright, sparkles, fun material etc.

P-1.3We shall not participate in practices that discriminate

against children by denying benefits, giving special advantages, or
excluding them from programs or activities on the basis of their sex,
race, national origin, religious beliefs, medical condition, disability,
or the marital status/family structure, sexual orientation, or religious
beliefs or other affiliations of their families. (Aspects of this principle
do not apply in programs that have a lawful mandate to provide
services to a particular population of children.)
P-1.4We shall involve all those with relevant knowledge (including
families and staff) in decisions concerning a child, as appropriate,
ensuring confidentiality of sensitive information.

P-2.2We shall inform families of program philosophy, policies,

curriculum, assessment system, and personnel qualifications, and
explain why we teach as we dowhich should be in accordance with
our ethical responsibilities to children (see Section I).
P-2.4We shall involve the family in significant decisions affecting
their child.
P-2.6As families share information with us about their children
and families, we shall consider this information to plan and
implement the program.
Solutions tested against the code:
Telling the child he is no longer allowed to wear the costume This
violates P-1.3 of the ethical code. This would form discrimination
based on sex. This could lead to questions such as the child asking,
why he cannot wear the costume.
Allowing the child to continue to wearing the costume This would
violate sections P-1.4, P-2.4 and P-2.2 of the ethical code. The father
explicitly informed us he no longer wanted his child to wear the fairy
costume.
Removing the costume from the dress up area This doesnt violate
any code of ethics although it does seem unfair to the other
children. Also what happens if the child then choses a pig costume,
which is pink, will the father also complain about this. Where would
we need to draw the line?
Getting another costume with sparkles and same material but less
feminine looking again this doesnt violate any ethical code
although this still might not satisfy the father. The child could
possibly prefer this costume to the other but maybe not.
Doing away with gender bias costumes I think this would also
violate P-1.3 as again we are denying children the benefits of the
imitation stage. According to sociologist Mead; children go through
what he describes as imitation stage and play stage where they
begin to play roles other than themselves and enjoy imitating other
roles they see in society. These could be fictional characters as well
as general day-to-day people.
Explaining to the parent that the costumes is worn by all the boys
and girls as to not create gender bias in the class, not just his son
This will not violate any codes of ethics although this matter would
need to be approached delicately as the parent could think you are
trying to tell them how to raise his child.

The solutions that do not violate any code of ethics are removing
the costume from the dress up area, getting another costume with
sparkles but less feminine and talking to the parent and explaining
the need for dress up and non gender bias. The first would not
violate the ethics as no one is being discriminated against and at
the same we are following the fathers wishes. Getting another
costume with sparkles but less feminine could also be a solution
that could work, as the child will still get to express himself and
enjoy the sequin and textured material while again following the
fathers wishes. This does however still has the possibility of not
working, as the child may still like the silver sparkly costume. The
final solution to me would probably be the best for everyone
involved. I would hope that after a careful discussion the parent
would be able to see the need for children to express themselves in
whatever manner comes natural to them.
The code of ethics helped me come up with more ethical solutions,
as I had to consider everyones opinions. Even the children who
were not directly involved in this matter still had to be taken into
consideration.
I had to take out my bias of what I personally thought was the right
thing to do and remember that at the end of the day, every parent
has the right to decide on how they would like their child to be
raised regardless.
The final solution was the one I felt suited everyone involved the
best as no one was harmed, discriminated against and the child did
not have to be told he was not allowed to wear the costume.
After approaching my director and the parent I would want to
arrange a sit down meeting with the parent to discuss all the ethical
codes involved and see if we could reach a harmonious solution.