One of the first lessons we want to teach our kids - is how to learn from mistakes. What can we do to try to prevent a bad outcome happening again? The Ministry of Education has been slow, it seems, to learn this early childhood lesson.
When 22 month old Neihana Renata choked on a piece of apple at his Rotorua daycare centre, the Ministry may have ticked the required boxes: commissioning a Worksafe investigation and ensuring the daycare centre had met its legal obligations.
But what did it do to try to ensure this tragedy never happened again? Answer: Very little.
Until now very few people have known about the incident at the Little Lights Kindy where Neihana was served apple in a way that is known to be risky to toddlers.
Raw, hard, and sliced into wedges, it got stuck in his little throat, cutting off his airway for thirty minutes.
Desperate efforts by first-aid trained daycare staff to dislodge the apple were futile. By the time ambulance officers could get him breathing again, it was too late to save Neihana from irreparable brain damage.
Now he can’t walk, talk or feed himself. He can’t move without help.
While the Ministry of Education recorded this as “an incident”, it did not feel compelled to make it public, alert the daycare sector or to re-enforce its messaging about food safety guidelines for babies and toddlers.
The fact is, hard, chunky fruit and vegetables pose a risk for babies and toddlers. It’s the black and white advice set out by the Ministry of Health. And while wedges of apples are probably being served in daycares up and down the country, and without incident, surely the public and especially daycare centres have a right to know about a choking event like Neihana’s. We ought to have been told it happened after food was served to him, contrary to our own government guidelines.
The Ministry of Education declined to be interviewed by TVNZ’s Sunday programme. Responding to questions through written statements, they could not explain why they hadn’t communicated the Niehana’s choking to the sector, only saying that through newsletters, they’d issued reminders about the importance of supervision.
In 2017 the Ministry changed its policy and says it now publicly reports such serious incidents – but that doesn’t change the past and we’re still in the dark about other serious events which may have happened.
Neihana’s family understandably has no wish to seek the limelight when they are still coming to terms with his tragic outcome and how they will face the future. Full marks to them for stepping out to help teach us a lesson about choking - after the Ministry of Education scores a fail.
- By Janet McIntyre
Watch ‘FORBIDDEN FRUIT’ on SUNDAY tomorrow evening at 7.30pm.
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