When parents send their children to school, they assume they will be safe. It is the job of teachers and school administrators to ensure their safety, but what if the same people who are supposed to be protecting children are the ones who are hurting them?
A video has made its way around social networks showing an Ohio teacher grabbing a child by his face as he is walking down the hall.
The teacher had apparently lost her temper with the 6-year-old boy after removing him from the classroom. In the video, a little boy can be seen walking to the bathroom. When he comes out of the bathroom, his teacher, Barb Williams, is waiting on him.
She confronts the child and grabs him by the face.
She then jerks him up by the shirt. When she does so, his head slams back into the wall behind him. The video does not have any sound, so it is not clear what the teacher is saying to the child.
The school became aware of the incident and did alert the parents. However, administrators did not inform them of how serious the situation really was.
It wasn’t until the parents saw the video themselves that they realized how bad it was.
The boy’s father, Anthony Nelson, talked about the video saying:
“We thought it was just a little incident that happened, and that’s what the school made it out to sound like. And then all of a sudden we get this video today and this is just outrageous.”
He added:
“I would consider what would happen to myself, if I were to do that to her. If I were to do that to her, I would go to jail.”
The Nelsons said that their son was afraid to return to school and they feel bad for not being able to protect him.
The boy had a bruise on the back of his head as a result of the altercation, and the school was refusing to fire the teacher. They suspended her for 11 days and moved the boy to a different class.
His parents said that it wasn’t good enough. They wanted the person who harmed their son to be fired so it doesn’t happen to another student.
“He’s scared of her,” said Autumn Nelson. “Even going to the school next year or the year after, he will still have to see her if she is present in the building. That’s probably going to scare him.”
Anthony claimed that the school hadn’t been very understanding or supportive of the situation and seemed to be protecting the teacher.
He said that even having their son removed from her class took some pleading.
“The principal told us at that time that she’s a highly recommended teacher and they are unwilling to transfer him to a different class.”
The parents did not give up, and they were eventually issued an apology from the superintendent.
After the story became viral, the school did decide to take action and filed reports with the local police department, the Department of Education, and Child Protective Services.
After the video went public, Williams resigned from her position.
She pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted child endangerment and was sentenced to anger management classes.
The Nelsons said they hope their son will be able to put the incident behind him and not fear his teachers. They were afraid that the incident could affect how he views school and make him question if he is even safe there.
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