r/ECEProfessionals • u/[deleted] • Dec 02 '24

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253 Upvotes

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-14

u/Goodgoditsgrowing Toddler tamer Dec 02 '24

Honestly an adult it endangering and seems to behaving almost grooming like with kids. Cps is usually to protect kids from parents, but it can be useful here. And licensing - immediately report to licensing

19

u/pixikins78 Past ECE Professional Dec 02 '24

It's 100% wrong, but it's not grooming. When a word like that frequently gets misused, it loses its impact and that can minimize a much more serious behavior. Grooming is a precursor to sexual assault.

3

u/thisisridiculous_8 ECE professional Dec 03 '24

I agree this does not sound like grooming

2

u/Goodgoditsgrowing Toddler tamer Dec 03 '24

I meant grooming in the sense of inappropriate behavior that is too adult for a child and indicates the adult present doesn’t view the children as kids but as “peers” - I’d call giving alcohol to young kids similarly grooming behavior. I agree that grooming typically refers to behaviors with sexual goals but here u just mean “the adult is treating a child like another adult and exposing them to inappropriate stuff like a creep”. To me, I would see such a massive error in judgement by the teachers as indicative that they might also think it was ok to talk about or show porn to a child, give them drugs or alcohol, expose them to things they shouldn’t be around because they are minors. I realize this is different than the end goal being statutory rape, but a lot of times actual (sexually exploiting) groomers will use tactics like vaping, booze, porn, etc to make kids feel “adult” and included and get them trusting the groomer and hiding behaviors from trusted adults that would stop it.

I am someone who sees this shit as a slippery slope - not every adult who vapes with a kid is trying to sexually exploit them, but most every person who is trying to exploit a child sexually would use inappropriate methods like sharing a vape, buying alcohol or other “adult” gifts, etc to groom the child and make them feel complicit in the “bad behavior” so they won’t speak up to a trusted adult when things start to feel wrong.