Section 110-300-0331 - Prohibited behavior, discipline, and physical removal of children(1) An early learning provider must take steps to prevent and, once aware of, must not tolerate: (a) Profanity, obscene language, "put downs," or cultural or racial slurs;(b) Angry or hostile interactions;(c) Threats of physical harm or inappropriate discipline such as, but not limited to, spanking, biting, jerking, kicking, hitting, slapping, grabbing, shaking, pulling hair, pushing, shoving, throwing a child, or inflicting pain or humiliation as a punishment;(d) Intimidation, gestures, or verbal abuse including sarcasm, name calling, shaming, humiliation, teasing, derogatory remarks about a child or the child's family;(e) Emotional abuse including victimizing, bullying, rejecting, terrorizing, extensive ignoring, or corrupting a child;(f) Prevent a child from or punish a child for exercising religious rights; or(g) Anyone to: (i) Restrict a child's breathing;(ii) Bind or restrict a child's movement unless permitted under WAC 110-300-0335;(iii) Tape a child's nose, mouth, or other body part;(iv) Deprive a child of sleep, food, clothing, shelter, physical activity, first aid, or regular or emergency medical or dental care;(v) Force a child to ingest something as punishment such as hot sauce or soap;(vi) Interfere with a child's ability to take care of his or her own hygiene and toileting needs;(vii) Use toilet learning or training methods that punish, demean, or humiliate a child;(viii) Withhold hygiene care, toileting care, or diaper changing from any child unable to provide such care for himself or herself;(ix) Expose a child to extreme temperatures as punishment;(x) Demand excessive physical exercise or strenuous postures. Excessive physical exercise includes, but is not limited to, running laps around the yard until overly tired, an extensive number of push-ups, having a child rest more than the child's development requires, standing on one foot for an uncomfortable amount of time, or holding out one's arms until tired or painful;(xi) Place the separated child in a closet, bathroom, locked room, outside, or in an unlicensed space; and(xii) Use high chairs, car seats, or other confining space or equipment to punish a child or restrict movement.(2) An early learning provider must supervise to protect children from the harmful acts of other children. A provider must immediately intervene when they become aware that a child or children are teasing, fighting, bullying, intimidating, or becoming physically aggressive.(3) An early learning provider may separate a preschool age or school age child from other children when that child needs to regain control of him or herself. (a) During separation time, the child must remain under the appropriate level of supervision of a licensee, center director, assistant director, program supervisor, lead teacher or an assistant teacher.(b) Separation time should be minimized and appropriate to the needs of the individual child.(4) If a child is separated from other children, an early learning provider must: (a) Consider the child's developmental level, language skills, individual and special needs, and ability to understand the consequences of his or her actions; and(b) Communicate to the child the reason for being separated from the other children.(5) If an early learning provider follows all strategies in this section, and a child continues to behave in an unsafe manner, only a licensee, center director, assistant director, program supervisor, lead teacher, or an assistant teacher may physically remove the child to a less stimulating environment. Staff must remain calm and use a calm voice when directing or removing the child. Physical removal of a child is determined by that child's ability to walk: (a) If the child is willing and able to walk, staff may hold the child's hand and walk him or her away from the situation.(b) If the child is not willing or able to walk, staff may pick the child up and remove him or her to a quiet place where the child cannot hurt themselves or others.Wash. Admin. Code § 110-300-0331
WSR 18-15-001, recodified as § 110-300-0331, filed 7/5/18, effective 7/5/18Statutory Authority: RCW 43.215.070, 43.215.201 and chapter 42.56 RCW. WSR 18-14-079, § 170-300-0331, filed 6/30/18, effective 8/1/19.