As the night came to a close, seniors Jared Mayerson and Regina Lisinker had the formidable task of putting two energetic twins under the age of five to sleep. While it began to seem like nothing would work, Mayerson and Linsinker noticed that the kids were wearing Batman and Spider-man pajamas and convinced the boys that once they woke up the next day, they would gain superpowers. Mayerson and Lisinker effectively used this strategy when babysitting for history teacher William Colglazier’s children and his sister’s twin boys during Thanksgiving break.
Colglazier hires some of his previous students, such as senior Parisa Kabiri, Mayerson, and Lisinker. All three of them started babysitting for Colglazier through referrals and word of mouth.
Reasons why teachers hire students instead of babysitters from professional agencies include greater creativity and energy levels. Colglazier says, “Older babysitters … like my parents, turn on the TV because they can’t handle the energy of a five-year-old and a one-year-old. Younger babysitters can kind of engage with that and be excited about playing Legos again or playing Monopoly or just being goofy.”
Teachers may hire students as babysitters because the costs are potentially less than the professional ones. However, Spanish teacher Alejandra Cheever, who employs senior Celeste Hernandez to take care of her son Jacob when family members are at events, says, “I look at whatever people charge on Care.com and any one of those [babysitting sites], and I base it off of that. I try not to take advantage of anyone because they might be younger and might not know what’s a fair price.”
Trust is an essential factor when deciding to hire a babysitter. Colglazier says, “Kids that I know, I have a sense like I feel like I can trust them. I think obviously a sense of trust is foundational for leaving your progeny with other people.”
The pressure that comes with babysitting teachers’ children makes students more conscious of their actions. Mayerson, who has babysat for Colglazier three times, says, “The only difference between babysitting for a normal family and for your teacher’s is that you feel extra pressure to do the best job that you can because they did such a good job teaching you that you don’t want to let them down when you’re helping them out with something else.”
Such pressure may manifest itself in another way. Lisinker says, “I definitely see a pressure to sort of accept the babysitting job from a teacher. There’s a pressure there sort of when I feel inclined to say yes to the job even if I know I can’t make it just because I don’t want to disappoint him.”
Despite the pressure that comes with babysitting, Mayerson says, “It was like a normal babysitting experience. There was no awkwardness because he wasn’t my teacher anymore, and when he was, I always had a good relationship with him. It was pretty much normal.”
For teachers, certain drawbacks also exist. Colglazier says, “[A disadvantage is] when I hear my kids are being Snapchatted … I’m not actually seriously concerned about that. I would say, they see my messy house. Or they could see pictures of me when I was younger and laugh at me behind my back. I don’t see too many disadvantages.”
Other teachers may also be wary of allowing students to babysit their children because they do not want to mix their personal and professional lives. Cheever says, “I think that there are a lot of great students here that of course I would let babysit my kids, but again, it is like crossing into a personal area. I worry sometimes that somebody might think that it’s inappropriate. I try to be fair, make sure that everything is good, [and] talk to the parents to try to make sure that everyone is comfortable with it.”
Even though some teachers, like psychology and history teacher Carlo Corti, do not have significant objections, many draw a clear line to maintain the separation between personal and professional spheres. Corti says, “If I was really close to a student, I might hesitate to have them as a babysitter just because I wouldn’t want to have that confusion … Most of the time when I do ask a student to babysit, I just want to make that clear that this has nothing to do with your class, nothing to do with expectations about what goes on in class.”
The collision of the two spheres, however, may not serve as a necessary detriment. Mayerson says, “[Babysitting] allows you to get to know your teachers in a different context from in school because teachers are real people too.”
Although some teachers may be hesitant about hiring current or past students, Cheever believes that it has been a worthwhile and rewarding experience, saying, “I think when you find someone that your kids really like and it works well with your family dynamic, then you kind of want to stick with that.”
