Wide-eyed, soft-spoken Louise Woodward, an au pair from Britain, came across on national television more as a typical teenager than murderer. And her conviction late Thursday for killing the 8-month-old boy she cared for was all the more sensational for its incongruity.
Yet according to many child-care workers, publicity surrounding the case–in which Woodward was accused of shaking Matthew Eappen and slamming his head against a hard surface–has highlighted many complicated issues involving child care and in some ways cast a pall on the profession.
While the victim’s parents, Sunil and Deborah Eappen, were receiving hate mail accusing them of failing to care for their own children, others questioned whether teenagers were qualified to care for infants at all.
Parents could shrug off Rebecca De Mornay’s sinister portrayal of a live-in nanny in the 1992 film “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” as a celluloid horror fantasy. But the Woodward trial, broadcast in gavel-to-gavel coverage by Court TV, has gripped many parents and child care workers with its real-life drama.
As headlines and TV anchors have trumpeted details of the latest “nanny case,” many trained professional nannies are concerned that they are being stigmatized–and confused–with the young girls such as Woodward who participate in the au pair program, which is run as a cultural exchange program by the U.S. Information Agency.
Meanwhile, many involved in the au pair program said the young women are being unfairly portrayed as unqualified, flighty girls who have little experience with children and are more interested in partying in America.
“There is a world of difference between a nanny and an au pair, and everybody in the nanny business is concerned,” said Sheilagh Roth, executive director of the English Nanny & Governess School Inc., in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
“A true nanny is really dedicated to assume responsibility for the physical, emotional, intellectual, cognitive and social development of children in a safe and healthy environment,” said Roth, who, with a faculty of 10, educates about 100 nannies a year in a six-month program. The school’s nannies command starting salaries of $375 a week, with room-and-board and health insurance.
Many involved in the au pair program, which brings 12,000 young men and women ages 18 to 26 to this country annually, defend their competence as well. The au pairs work 45 hours a week for room-and-board and a $139 weekly salary.
Lake Bluff residents Tom and Patty Crofts, both teachers at Lake Forest Country Day School, had no qualms about hiring an au pair, 21-year-old Claudia Klingemann of Stuttgart, Germany.
“She’s like a 21-year-old daughter to me,” Patty Crofts said of Klingemann. Klingemann has been caring for the Crofts’ two children–Jacob, 4 1/2, and Genna, 19 months–since August.
More Top Picks Best Weighted Lap Pads For Autism
The Massachusetts case has been a topic of conversation among au pairs, Klingemann said. But they see the case as an isolated incident.
“They say it’s unbelievable,” Klingemann said. “It’s so weird that this could happen.”
As for her qualifications, Klingemann is confident that her past experience baby-sitting in Germany prepared her well.
Michael Widner, of Vernon Hills, said the case underscores the parents’ responsibility to conduct thorough interviews–and, if necessary–ask the agency to make a change.
“I don’t leave this up for grabs,” said Widner, whose son, Jake, is 17 months old. “If I had somebody come in and I had any thought at all that my little boy was unhappy, it wouldn’t even be a question. I would ask for another au pair.”
Barbara Claeys and her husband, Jerry, a Lake Forest business executive, have hired 10 au pairs over the years to care for their four children, who now range in age from 12 to 21.
“This case would never stop me from hiring a young person through an au pair program,” Barbara Claeys said. “We’ve had many different young ladies come stay. We only had two that were questionable,” Claeys said.
Another North Shore parent, who asked not to be named, said she and her husband discovered three months ago that their au pair was harming their children.
“Getting physical as he imposed discipline was his approach, his philosophy,” said the mother. “But it wasn’t ours, so we asked the placement service to make a change–our new au pair is working out fine.”
In 1995, the U.S. Information Agency mandated that au pairs have 32 hours of training: 24 devoted to child development and eight to child safety. But for the first nine years of the program, which began in 1986, no training was required. In September, the agency tightened those regulations to require that eight of the 32 hours focus on infant care.
Still, Stanley Colvin, the USIA’s assistant general counsel, said, “The family (of Matthew Eappen) told Bryant Gumbel that they were quite frankly comfortable with the idea of an 18-year-old caring for their child–and they were both doctors.”
The USIA, he noted, had tried to limit infant care to au pairs age 21, but more than 4,000 parents wrote letters protesting the restriction.
“I don’t think age is the issue,” said Melanie Basson, 19, an au pair from Johannesburg, South Africa, who cares for Joshua Braudy, 4, and his sister, Julia, 1, in their Northbrook home.
“I was just in McDonald’s,” Basson related, “and saw this older nanny leave the two kids she was caring for by themselves while she went to Starbucks for coffee.”