APPLE DAILY (omni please translate) had a story today, page 2, full page, about trouble at HEss. Seems a kid fell down stairs and broke his arm, but Hess refuses to pay damages, parents very angry. Photos at all.
Can someone explain what happened? Also big story about Karen Hess, too. Is this the end of HESS or just bad PR?
Here’s some of it…probably the best bits, at least.
[quote]Child Breaks Arm; Hess Does Nothing
Sent to Hospital 1 Hour Later
Head Office Refuses to Take Responsibility for Franchise’s Actions
[Taipei] A child at the Banqiao branch of Hess Kindergarten’s anqinban broke his left arm during class, but staff let the child wail for over an hour before his mother came and took him to the hospital. Later, the parents demanded an investigation, but the anqinban provided no surveillance videotape. Hess headquarters said that this anqinban was merely a “franchisee” of theirs, and refused to take responsibility. Disgruntled public safety personnel said that the company should pay with its professional reputation.
Re-making an Image
The eight-year-old boy attends a Hess anqinban on Hansheng East Road in Banqiao. The boy’s mother, Lin Yafang, wept the day before yesterday while speaking to school managers, saying that on November 27 of last year at 4 p.m., her son was playing with classmates when he broke his left arm. “But afterwards, the teacher, Wu Qiu-ing, just looked at my son, who was white in the face with pain, and did not get him to the hospital. Rather, she called me to take him.”
School Refuses to Hand Over Tape
The mother said angrily that her son cried for an hour. “He was in so much pain that he nearly fainted. He couldn’t even speak!” She hurried him to the hospital to have the bone set. Currently the arm is still crooked, and the boy requires ongoing physiotherapy and observation.
Mrs. Hsieh says that based on her concern for children, they hope only to understand what happened. They could not anticipate that the teacher would begin to say “It happened when I asked the children to line up,” and then change her story to: “there was no teacher present”. First the school offered to present the videotape, then they delayed, and finally sent “Teacher Teresa” from the school to tell them that the tape “had been erased!” Mrs. Hsieh said that since the school had been waffling about its version of the story, parents sensed that there was something being hidden, and suspected that the school was deliberately erasing evidence unfavorable to it, in the hopes of escaping responsibility. “If the teacher was not negligent, why do they refuse to hand over the tape?” Since the school has not clearly said whether payment will be made, and has sent “unnamed” teachers to front for them, the parents suspect that the school is not being sincere enough. “We suspect that the school wants to drag this out for six months which is the limit under the law, so that it will just go away.”
“We Have an In with the MOE”
Mrs. Hsieh said that both parties had originally agreed to have a fifth meeting, but she could not imagine that one hour before, the school would suddenly telephone saying “If you want to sue, be our guest. We’re in with the Ministry of Education!” She said excitedly, in tears: “They can use their clout to cheat our child?” The day before yesterday, the parents went to put up a white banner outside the school saying “Hess Pressure, Illegal! No Trip to the Hospital, Irresponsible!” The school told Apple Daily reporters that it not only refused to comment, but had also videotaped this act as evidence of the parents’ bad attitude.
The parents, out of patience, went to find the police and public safety officials for help. Only then did the school send a self-styled “friend of the boss” out, a Miss He, out. However, her attitude was still very haughty, and she said only: “Wait for more talks.”[/quote]
Terry
This is something that I worry about everyday. When I see a kid running in the hall my heart skips a beat before the instruction to stop running comes out of my mouth.
I’ve had one kid fall out of his chair and smack his face on the floor. Blood everywhere, lucky the parents were understanding and didn’t place blame on the school.
Another more funny story was the time that a kid tried to kiss a turtle and the turtle bit her tongue. That was classic and what made it better was that the parent was right there and told the kid to do it, no blame for us 
:!: Can you just imagine this kid with a turtle hanging off her tongue 
This kind of thing worries me too. Teachers can only do so much. Instead of just yelling “Don’t run!” at the children, I take the time to ask them why we ask them to walk. Most are able to tell me that it’s because when they run they can fall down, get hurt, or run into people and hurt them. They are aware of the consequences, yet they still do it. I’ve seen two children slip and fall badly because they were running around the sink area and it stops my heart when it happens, even if they are okay. If one of them gotten seriously injured, would the parents understand that while we do try to enforce safety, teachers cannot watch every single child every single second to remind them, just as parents cannot do the same at home, even with an only child?
Depends on exactly what happened, but I can’t imagine how anyone could manage that level of perfect supervision - as you say, only children have accidents too!
But the HESS thing is disgusting if true - whether or not the school was actively at fault I would have expected someone to take him to hospital/call an ambulance immediately.
You mean related to the broken arm kid, or something else, or was it just a background piece about her? More info please. 
All these schools have public liability ( or whatever its called) insurance right?
So if somebody breaks their neck, then the insurance will pay for it.
The only reason that they should hide something like this is if the kid fell/slipped cause the floor was wet or the kids were left run wild (??), and then there could be a compensation claim right?
I think HESS messed up. Perhaps they waited an hour as some one was hoping it was just a little bump ( although the bone was proabily protruding from the arm if it was broken), and the kid would get better after a while, thus the matter would be closed, just a note to Mom saying little Johnny slipped, and bumped himself.
When they did figure out ( after the mother brought him to the hosptial) they messed up they want to hide all knowing of how it happened, as the story has publicity now and probably a compensation claim against HESS. I wonder who HESS are going to hang for this? Teacher Teresa?
Actually on this also, for people who work in schools and own them, what is the standard procedure used in cases where there are accidents. Obvisuly you first report it, but then do you wait for the parent or should you seek medical attention for the kid. Some schools perhaps prefer to let it to the parents and essentially pass the problem on to someone else, then there is no responsibiltiy on the school’s part ( or is this the understanding?)
On a related note, we have parents who seem to think they can drop their kids off a long time before their lessons, and pick them up again a long time after. The record is 6hrs here, for 2 hrs of classes - 2 kids.
In the meantime they’re running wild and I’m royally pissed off about it, but what can you do? The sales staff looked horrified when I suggested that parents be asked to only leave their kids here for the time they have paid for. I am told that this is fairly standard practise. Is it true, or only with the rich bastards that send their kids here? All my work until now has been with adults or in high schools.
If I can’t get the issue dealt with I’m in a sticky situation. As I see it they can either be a danger to themselves and each other, or we can employ someone to look after them and lose a classroom to our free babysitting service. Neither is really acceptable.
I’m guessing that we’re liable for them from the point of view of accident whenever they are on the premises, regardless of whether they have paid or not. We can’t really be negligent in not looking after kids who aren’t supposed to be here, can we?
And aside from the liability issue, I don’t really want kids hurting themselves because their parents don’t want to look after them properly.
[quote=“TNT”]All these schools have public liability ( or whatever its called) insurance right?
So if somebody breaks their neck, then the insurance will pay for it.[/quote]
Oh, yeah. Just send it right on over to the insurance company and settle up right away. That’s just great business. Has it occured to you that it is in both the insured and insurers interests to avoid paying out if at all possible? Obviously, the insurer will contest claims to avoid paying. If this Hess branch makes an insurance claim, then their insurance premiums and deductible could go up substantially. Insurance is not a perfect safety net to fall back upon in case of any and all accidents. There are long term costs for making a big claim.
[quote=“TNT”]
The only reason that they should hide something like this is if the kid fell/slipped cause the floor was wet or the kids were left run wild (??), and then there could be a compensation claim right?
I think HESS messed up. Perhaps they waited an hour as some one was hoping it was just a little bump ( although the bone was proabily protruding from the arm if it was broken), and the kid would get better after a while, thus the matter would be closed, just a note to Mom saying little Johnny slipped, and bumped himself.
When they did figure out ( after the mother brought him to the hosptial) they messed up they want to hide all knowing of how it happened, as the story has publicity now and probably a compensation claim against HESS. I wonder who HESS are going to hang for this? Teacher Teresa?[/quote]
Wow, I guess you’ve read a lot more about this in the Chinese media or Ironlady has just done a horrible translation of Apple Daily’s article 
. Who is quoted in this article? A parent. Just one parent. You think Hess messed up? Based on what evidence? A newspaper article in Taiwan’s biggest gossip rag based on a single source: the mother. “The bone was probably protruding from the arm if it was broken?” JEEEEEEEEEEEZE.
Well its better to have insurance than not have it… that’s my point
Ever seen the mess when there is no insurance when an accident happens.
If it is one article by one newspaper, and there is absolutely no grain of truth in what they say, then fine, but I do not think even the Apple Daily is stupid enough to take the rish and print a story that is complete crap, and risk a law suit. However, Newspapers here do have the tendancy to confuse opinion with fact, and in this case it is the mother’s opinion or fact they are printing and not their own so this should be the get out of jail card for them
[quote=“stragbasher”]On a related note, we have parents who seem to think they can drop their kids off a long time before their lessons, and pick them up again a long time after. The record is 6hrs here, for 2 hrs of classes - 2 kids.
In the meantime they’re running wild and I’m royally pissed off about it, but what can you do? The sales staff looked horrified when I suggested that parents be asked to only leave their kids here for the time they have paid for. I am told that this is fairly standard practise. Is it true, or only with the rich bastards that send their kids here? All my work until now has been with adults or in high schools.
If I can’t get the issue dealt with I’m in a sticky situation. As I see it they can either be a danger to themselves and each other, or we can employ someone to look after them and lose a classroom to our free babysitting service. Neither is really acceptable.
I’m guessing that we’re liable for them from the point of view of accident whenever they are on the premises, regardless of whether they have paid or not. We can’t really be negligent in not looking after kids who aren’t supposed to be here, can we?
And aside from the liability issue, I don’t really want kids hurting themselves because their parents don’t want to look after them properly.[/quote]
Tell the kids they have to wait outside the school outside of a 20 minute window before and after each class. What happens outside isn’t your problem - you’re not an anqinban, right?
[quote=“stragbasher”]On a related note, we have parents who seem to think they can drop their kids off a long time before their lessons, and pick them up again a long time after. The record is 6hrs here, for 2 hrs of classes - 2 kids.
[/quote]
Just explain to them that that in fact is not the case, and that if they cannot agree they can find another school. The sales staff would probably be “buhaoyise” to mention it if the kids wanted to have a sleepover there.
I have AnChing kids staying until 9pm. Mom calls and ask, “Can you run down to McDonalds and buy him/her a Happy Meal?”
[quote=“Maoman”][quote=“stragbasher”]On a related note, we have parents who seem to think they can drop their kids off a long time before their lessons, and pick them up again a long time after. The record is 6hrs here, for 2 hrs of classes - 2 kids.
In the meantime they’re running wild and I’m royally pissed off about it, but what can you do? The sales staff looked horrified when I suggested that parents be asked to only leave their kids here for the time they have paid for. I am told that this is fairly standard practise. Is it true, or only with the rich bastards that send their kids here? All my work until now has been with adults or in high schools.
If I can’t get the issue dealt with I’m in a sticky situation. As I see it they can either be a danger to themselves and each other, or we can employ someone to look after them and lose a classroom to our free babysitting service. Neither is really acceptable.
I’m guessing that we’re liable for them from the point of view of accident whenever they are on the premises, regardless of whether they have paid or not. We can’t really be negligent in not looking after kids who aren’t supposed to be here, can we?
And aside from the liability issue, I don’t really want kids hurting themselves because their parents don’t want to look after them properly.[/quote]
Tell the kids they have to wait outside the school outside of a 20 minute window before and after each class. What happens outside isn’t your problem - you’re not an anqinban, right?[/quote]
Are you going to write this as policy in your school and make the parents sign something to this effect. Actually is there such a thing given to parents when their kid joins the school?
Trouble is when you tell somebody something( and in this case the kids), when shit happens the parents can always come back and claim you didn’t
Jeez, Maoman! Can you really turf kids out onto the street? You heartless bastard.
Will they come back? We need the money here.
About insurance:[quote]Has it occured to you that it is in both the insured and insurers interests to avoid paying out if at all possible? Obviously, the insurer will contest claims to avoid paying. If this Hess branch makes an insurance claim, then their insurance premiums and deductible could go up substantially.[/quote]
Why pay insurance if they never pay out? Insurers pay out to justify the cost of insurance. Paying out is the only way to make people pay in, and it allows you to increase the premiums too!
Yes indeed – please think of all the decent, unoffending neighbours (such as yours truly) who will be disturbed if these little devils are allowed to run wild in the streets. How could you be so heartless toward us?
Kids should be shut away inside a school or school-like institution for as much of the time as possible, and only allowed outside for the purpose of traveling directly to and from their homes or very occasionally for brief outings in ones or twos under strict adult supervision. 
I don’t really think it’s fair to blame Hess for the injury to the child. Accidents happen; I want the children I teach to be safe, but I also think that kids should run around and play. Inevitably, somebody’s going to get hurt sometime. The major criticism I level at Hess is that they didn’t take the poor child to the hospital! Leaving a child with a broken arm to just sit there and scream for an hour is inexcusable. Torture at school isn’t supposed to start until junior high.
If the director at the Panchiao branch is the same director from one year ago, she has a lot of problems following the Hess guidelines. She treats employees poorly, and I am not surprised with all her bad karma that bad things will happen at her branches. Last I knew, she was the director for both the branch at Panchiao and the branch on Heping East Road near Da An Park. Stay away from her and I hope the children can be so lucky.
Sounds like the lady who used to run (run right into the ground I should add) the Kaohsiung Hesses. I heard Hess finally had to bring her back to Taipei so she wouldn’t do any more damage. She was an idiot…