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| Holidays away | ||||
| Who's looking after your kids? | ||||
 If you're going on a Christmas break these holidays then lucky you. We're very jealous. Most resorts and hotels now offer some sort of on-site child care service, and the majority are probably very good. But it can be a bit of a lottery.The main advantages about going to big resorts are convenience and a sense that everything is being done for you. You can just sit back and relax and everything will be taken care of. And that also includes your children - well some of the time. It's a funny thing, but we spend ages deliberating over child care, babysitters, nannies and the like when we're at home; researching, vetting and interviewing. Yet when we get on holidays, we are often happy to let a total stranger look after our kids for the day/night. And most of the time everything will probably be fine, but it's important to make sure that when it comes to who's looking after your children, you are in control, are happy with the facilities, have met the carers, checked their credentials and made up your own mind if you're happy about them. Just as you would in any other situation at home. In all likelihood you will probably have an amazing time and your kids will love the kids club or resort nannies and so will you… You may even try to poach them and take them home with you! But it is true that there are some pretty scary stories out there about resort child care, kids clubs and hotel nannies - the worst involving child sexual abuse and pretty bad neglect. TV and Radio presenter, Tracey Spicer recently wrote in an article on her experiences of resort care, saying that she'd come home to find her small child playing with a razor in the bathroom having been left there by the resort nanny, who'd put her child in the bathroom, because she was making too much noise. Another recent news article told of a three-year-old child who was on holiday in Bali and contracted an STD by being abused by the hotel's child minder. These are pretty extreme cases, but it does happen. Usually though issues may simply be more to do with the level of child care and the qualifications, age and dedication of the carers. Some are simply staff that "double up" as cleaners, reception, daytime staff and become child carers by evening. What to really look out for and try to avoid if possible is being duped by advertising. There can sometimes be a huge gap between what's advertised and what's reality and this is where it's tricky, because how can you know when even if you research a place you find great reviews, all sorts of assurances and beautiful pictures of kids having fun? Jon and Nikki Britton found this out when they took their family on holiday to a large resort in Cyprus in 2010. Jon Britton says that the most scary part of the child care experience they had was the fact that there was such a massive disconnect between what was described in the brochure and what they found on arrival. "The "Kids club" is a critical part of a successful holiday for so many families, says Jon. "Mum and dad want a break, an hour or two in the sun without having to think about the kids and as ever, the kids want to play, surrounded by their peers and having a great time… which is just as it should be". We take our holidays very seriously and the right amount of research goes into each year's destination. With the rise of Tripadvisor you have real-life feedback from those who have holidayed in each of these destinations… you can't lose… can you? For their holiday, the Brittons chose the resort largely based on its child care provision, which claimed to have English staff, an enclosed area, care from 10-2pm and all for free. There were also lots of good reviews on the website. However the reality of what the family found was so different. The kids club was situated near the busy main road with no gates or even fencing to prevent the children wandering towards the road. The carers were barely older than the kids and certainly not English. The buildings, in which the club was housed, were in great disrepair, it wasn't free and there was a waiting list! Having managed to get the kids into the club, warning bells went off on the very first night when the children were encouraged to join their parents in the poolside café area, with "entertainment" stretching into the early hours. Jon Britton says they watched in amazement as, in one "game", the kids were asked to see how many packets of cigarettes they could collect and bring to the stage in the shortest time. "The problem was, we had no choice", says Jon. "We felt we couldn't reasonably let our children use the club, so we didn't, but obviously some did. It came down to what we considered acceptable. And it just wasn't. But we made our feelings known". So what can you actually do about shoddy child care in a resort. Well in Australia, not much, because there is no real overriding regulation. In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year, Child Wise child protection policy and certification officer Scott Jacobs said the lack of national standards for resort child care services 'makes it hard for parents to say "I can be sure this is child-safe"'. The legal requirements for kids clubs at resorts currently vary from state to state within Australia, although states have working-with-children checks. Child care at Queensland holiday resorts, for example, is completely unregulated. "Some services are going to be good, some mean well but they don't have the resources to put in proper protection," Mr Jacobs said. "Because there isn't the [national] oversight or guidelines, there isn't a consistent approach". And if it's that hard in Australia to ensure consistent care, you can imagine what it's like to ensure quality care when you're off to Bali or Fiji… Really it comes down to parents to ask questions and ensure that the answers given match up to what's actually provided. Good hotels will specify the organisation providing the child care, child to carer ratios, qualifications and training of staff as well as going into detail about activities and facilities. It's up to the parents to check and maintain standards are actually met. Aside from asking about general day-to-day activities, specific questions to ask would be as follows:
And if you're dissatisfied, make a complaint and make it to the hotel's head office. If you have booked with an ABTA or IATA agent, copy the complaint to them and don't hold back on putting a review on sites like Trip Advisor. The more exposed these places are, the more they will have to up their game. Of course, even though you hear more you're more than likely to have a wonderful holiday and a wonderful experience with the kids club at your hotel. |
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