We appreciate your concerns about the Nanny situation you witnessed and are open to you being able to communicate them on our list. It is the policy of the PSP group, though, that you post only a brief description of the location, babysitter and child (clothing, stroller type, etc.) and ask that interested parties contact you without reference to an "upsetting incident," "disturbing" or other 'Bad Nanny' indicators.
We have found that this is just as successful as writing information that could be viewed as defamatory and cause problems for both the poster, the Nanny and Park Slope Parents. We had someone post a note similar to yours and it turned out that the "upsetting Nanny" was actually a grandmother. This, as you might imagine, became a huge embarrassment to the family and was time-consuming for us behind the scenes. We also do not allow photos of children or Nannies to be posted without permission.
This and other incidents led us to come up with this policy that we felt was a more neutral way to get the same message across. We feel that the only people who need to know the details are those involved-- you as a witness and the parent who is employing the Nanny.
We also ask that if you are willing to post this message that you also follow through. We've had people post a message and then NOT respond to the post, leaving parents to wonder what the situation was about without any feedback as to what the situation was about.
Also be prepared to get push-back from the parent. Frankly people don't want to think that they've made the wrong choice in hiring someone to take care of their child(ren) so many times they don't want to believe it or downplay the severity. If it's truly an abusive situation and other people saw it, please encourage them to add to your voice in helping the employer understand that their child is in danger.
Please re-submit your post keeping these things in mind. Many thanks for your cooperation and ongoing support of the list.
Best,
PSP Moderators
