Why do people who hate children work in childcare?

This is an excellent question and one I have no answers to. I will say that I encountered the same thing when I worked in nursing homes for three years as a nurse's assistant. Basically that meant I spoon-fed, showered, toileted, shaved and tidied up after the elderly residents. I worked for one year in an Alzheimer ward. I encountered some of the most abusive and hateful people working in this environment... weren't we there to provide 'care'? I will never understand why people like that are drawn to these types of fields. It breaks my heart to see elderly people treated that way, and I would never put someone I love in a home because of my experiences. Sorry if this is off topic, I just see a connection..

I am in the childcare field and I love children. I personally don't know of anyone that is in childcare that hates children. I guess there might be some people, but none that I know of. I do believe that some people start childcare because they think it is an easy way to make money. But soon they find out the reality of it. It's hard work! You really have to have a love for children to succeed at it.

What a great post and i too see this alot and i do not think that this is fair to children at all. I agree with you 100 % that if a person does not like to be around children and if children annoy them this much they should not be where they are! I will never understand why people do this and only make the lives of children , sometimes our children miserable just because they are!

That's why people homeschool. They either do it for religious reasons or they want to raise their children their way. Children will eventually have to obey authority..last time I checked anyway. They need to be taught discipline, along with creativity, expression, and the basics. Secondly, I don't know too many people that go into childcare that hate children. Everyone I know loves children and loves working with them daily. I'm not sure where you are seeing it. I've never encountered that problem.

My answer would have to be that they have control issues. They are in need of control and figure if they work in child care there are little people there they can control. It strokes their egos. This is my opinion. In fact I have recently run into a few people that just enforce that opinion.

I think that a lot of jobs that should be looked at as "callings" nursing,teaching, doctors, police etc- often attract the people with control issues who see those careers as positions of power. I want to believe *most* police officers want to protect people, most teachers love children, most nurses want to heal & help people etc. But the bad apples are easier to spot & just make people un-trusting of others in those fields- kwim?

I had a few teachers like that back in the day. One was my 1st grade teacher. She was a nun. I don't think she liked kids at all but became a nun and then didn't know what else to do except teach. She was pretty old so was probably from the old school train of thought (spare the rod, spoil the child). All she did was make us right lines in our notebook or do math problems. All day. She had almost no interaction with us at all. She sat at her desk and demanded complete silence at all time. We were only 6 for crying out loud. If we fidgeted we got in trouble and I was the kind of kid (and adult) that can not sit still. I probably would have been labeled ADHD as a kid. The second was my 4th grade teacher. She was HORRIBLE! I hated her so much. Almost every single night I had to write my spelling words from 20-100 times each (20 spelling words in total). I would spend most of the night doing that instead of focusing on my actual homework. I was 9/10 years old and up until 10-11 every night trying to get my spelling words all done and my hand would cramp up. Why did we get spelling words every night? Because one or two kids would talk or act up in class so she punished us all. I almost never talked in class but I was punished along with everyone else. It was usually one or two kids that were acting up--same ones almost every time and we all got punished. She never let us have recess either. We just sat at our desks instead. She was awful. I think she started out liking teaching but somewhere along the line stopped liking it and children. She should not have been teaching. Most of the teachers I had though were good.

Maybe for the same reason a diabetic works in a bakery. Some people need jobs and many times have to take ones they aren't necessarily suited for. I think any person could momentarily 'lose it' if they were around many small children all day. Let's face it, many children are little monsters when they're someone elses. But anyone who actually beats a child should be reported ASAP!

I'm not really sure why people like that work in the childcare field. Maybe it's because they are unhappy and want everyone else to be too? I know my sister is a teacher and is one of the least happy people I know. She's always manipulating everything and trying to get her way. I don't really talk to her about her job, because frankly I don't want to know if my sister is behaving that way around the 5 and 6 year olds she is charge of. I know she has a friend that brags about making kids cry. There is definitely something wrong with that. I think a lot of it also has to do with them not having any real experience. The stuff they teach you in school is SOOO different than what you learn in the real world. My sister is always giving me all this advice on how to raise my son according to what her text books say. I ignore her. She has no children of her own. It may be well and good to say that my son is too attached to me and that I should leave him in his bed crying instead of letting him come back out and hear another story while I rock him. But in reality, he will just scream until his nose is runny and he is having a hard time breathing. I'm not going to take advice from someone who really has no clue, when I'm the one that has to deal with it. It seems like the ones that are truly awful in most situations don't have children of their own. They don't understand what it is like to LOVE that child unconditionally. They get mad if the child feels and thinks differently than they do. Sorry I've rambled. I guess I just feel strongly on this.

hi, i think the work is very hard. child crying u have to play with them to stop.child napkin needs to be change. u need to put food in their mouth too when they dont feel like eating even though they are hungry. some children want to sleep they will cry first.u see all these things and lots more ,thats why alot of people are scard of the job. i am not scard because i am going to have my own children too some day

sounds awfully scary to me. I mean why would these people be in child care in the first place? Are they just there for some kind of psychotic reasons or something? Well, whatever, the thing is, if you do not like children, hten it is best to stay away from them than cause some damage.

That is a great question! I have been wondering that very same thing myself after reading some of the comments here on myLot. Why do people who clearly don't understand child development decide to work in the childcare field? It seems that anyone can take on those positions without any credible education. Some of the things I have read from people in the field make me want to never leave my children in any type of childcare. I'm thankful that I have many family and friends around who love spending time with my children any time I have an appointment, want to go hang out with the girls, or anything else that would necessitate childcare.

Hey I dont think so that all the children at the childcare are the same .... it's only because of the pressure due to the adopted parents, some times the pressure of the studies and some times even due to the pressure of the society also the children turn bad and are often but into childcare.... showing them some extra love and also some amount of affection, would make them better... A LOTTTTT ........

I think it has something to do with control and power. Who would want to pass up the chance to break a child over and over again. We can pressure them all we want without having to worry about them fighting back because we have finally built in them a foundation of fear. We don't need reason nor logic with children. We can even make them believe anything we want them to believe. Teacher and daycares, are naturally noble occupations. And being, as such, we respect these people. And would find it hard to believe that they are doing this to children. They may show a different face infront of the parents but when they get they backs turned, boom, down the pit they go.

cause they just want to experience how hard to handle the children in childcare center. they always bother children in thier house specialy thier little sister.

I worked in childcare for years (most recently as a nanny for a family), I quit solely because my health would no longer allow the physical stress. I can't imagine any job in childcare without enjoying children. At least liking children! They are wonderful to watch as they grow and learn, and it's exciting when they learn something new and you're the reason for it. I can't imagine not smiling when they do something silly, marveling in their amazing creativity, or enjoying their child games where you can play along and feel younger again. But I certainly can't imagine why you'd choose the childcare field if you can't stand children in general. Much like I can't imagine why people become nurses and doctors when they don't care about people. In my opinion, ANY field you work in should be done because you want to. Certainly not just for the money, or some other benefit. If you don't love your job, you won't do it well. Why even bother, then? It's sad, and I'm sure people will continue to take jobs that they hate. I'll never get it. They'll continue to be unhappy, their "customers" (the kids in this case) will continue to be miserable in return, and nothing good comes of it. Oh, this world we live in...