A woman has claimed she would not send her own children to nursery school after she once worked for one.
The revelation, which might come as a shock to many parents, was shared online by Danielle, who posts to TikTok as @daniellecolexx.
In a video that has since racked up over 700,000 views, she explained what she saw while working in childcare.
Danielle captioned the viral clip: "Why I wouldn't put my kids in nursery after working in one myself."
She began by reassuring parents her reasons are not safety-related and emphasised the importance with which staff treat safeguarding matters.
"Now, before I get on with it, I just want to quickly say that when you put your kids in a nursery, they are completely safe. All the staff are completely safeguarding trained - there's not a danger to your children."
Danielle also clarified she's "not saying that every single nursery is like this" but that she felt disparaged after witnessing the 'lazy' attitudes of some staff, in one nursery where she worked.
"Firstly, to start off with, it's just not sunshine and rainbows like you think it is. It's really not perfect and it's nothing to do with the kids – mainly the staff, actually, and the laziness side of it," she explained.
The former employee said: "When I worked in a nursery, I always wanted to take the kids in the garden.
"I think that's one of the main things to do with the kids because they get to challenge themselves on the equipment, and there's obviously bikes. Just activities that you can't hold in the rooms."
Unfortunately, she got the impression that some other members of staff had different priorities. "A lot of the members of staff would be like kind of refusing to go outside because it's cold, or for whatever reason, or just because they mainly can't be bothered," she claimed.
Danielle continued: "Now, don't get me wrong, I understand if it's freezing and they genuinely can't go outside because they will freeze then that's a different story. But the majority of the time, it was just a little bit nippy and they couldn't be bothered."
She also found problems with the approach to indoor activities, which she felt were often 'rushed' or performed simply for the benefit of parents.
"You could do an activity with the children and put it online for the parents to see, and it would look like you've sat down and done a lovely activity with them when the majority of the time that's not the case. It's put out, rushed and you're there for one minute, take a photo and put it away," Danielle explained.
Thankfully, the pro said she would take the time to sit down with the youngsters and help them to learn new skills every day. But once again she did not see her attitude reflected by all of those around her.
"The staff would just chuck toy trains on the tables and leave the kids to it. Then, when the kids would run around like climbing on furniture that they shouldn't be climbing on, the staff would wonder why they're doing it and shout at the children," she recalled.
In response, several commenters shared their own experiences. One person claimed: "I worked in a nursery, the staff used to eat the food and give the children smaller portions."
A second said: "As a former nursery practitioner who used to wok (sic) in one i agree with you on this, the kids are amazing but the staffs are the issue, very toxic." But another wrote: "It really depends on the nursery, I worked at one and I loved it, seeing how much they care and love the children." And someone revealed: "I'm the opposite, I worked at a nursery and it was amazing so I sent my daughter there."
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