Amber Abernathy

Review of Ott Family YMCA

I've only been going here for two weeks and would ...

I've only been going here for two weeks and would give it a 5 star so far because of the friendly staff, the 2 hours of child watch and the fact that me and my kiddos have enjoyed it all so far. However, I give it 3 right now because of an incident I saw while swimming with my 2 yr old there two weeks ago. My son and I were swimming during the same time as the preschool class. Two of the boys were in trouble and were being punished by not getting to swim. They were told to sit and watch for the entire hour while every one else swam. And they were crying and screaming the entire time. For an hour. There were two preschool "teachers" there, both swimming with the rest of the kids. They both let the boys sit there crying and screaming. I understand disciplining your child and losing a privilege if you've gotten in trouble, but to punish them for an hour? This seems excessive and careless. I was going to put my son in the program once he is 3, but I seriously question it now. I wouldn't want my children treated like that. Does anyone know anything about the Lil Otters disciplinary guidelines? I know for child watch they let a child cry for 10 minutes before contacting the parent. To intentionally distress a child is a whole other story. Discipline and move on, don't drag it out for an hour in front of the entire class and others to watch.