According to WINK News, a video of an elementary school principal in southwest Florida paddling a student aged 6 has prompted an investigation.
The student’s mother filmed the alleged paddling on camera and also got the attention of the principal of Central Elementary School, Melissa Carter, and the office assistant, Cecilia Self.
The little child was punished by being paddled for “scratching a computer screen.”
According to David Begnaud of CBS This Morning, the first-grader was struck three times for “allegedly scratching a computer screen.”
Begnaud continued, “This girl, age 6, is 3 feet tall and weighs 40 pounds.
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According to the 6-year-old’s mother, everything began when she went to the school to pay a fine for the harm her daughter was allegedly responsible for causing to a computer, according to WINK News.
According to a police report received by the outlet, the mother of the first-grader mentioned paddling with her and a deputy present, but because to a language barrier, she was unable to fully comprehend the procedure.
The mother claims that when she first arrived at the school, the principal and a clerk were the only people present when she was led to the principal’s office.
She claimed that she feared no one would take her account of the paddling seriously, so she pulled out her phone and started a recording. In order for other parents to understand what was going on in the school, she felt she had “sacrificed my daughter.”
When WINK called the Hendry County School District to inquire about Principal Carter and whether or not the district still employed her, the CBS affiliate was given “no comment.”
Any student who purposefully damages a school device is subject to disciplinary measures, ranging from verbal warnings to expulsion, according to the school district’s own handbook.The manual, however, forbids hitting or other forms of physical punishment. According to USA Today, Florida law does not specifically forbid corporal punishment at the moment.
The policy supports practices that “do not demean students” and “do not tend to violate any individual rights constitutionally guaranteed to students.”
The mother who recorded the paddling event spoke with WINK further and detailed the apparent malice she saw: “The hatred with which she hit my daughter, I mean it was a hatred that, really, I’ve never hit my daughter like she hit her,” the mother said in Spanish.
She reportedly yelled out, “I had never hit her,” before continuing.
“That’s aggravated battery,” said Brent Probinsky, a lawyer who represents undocumented immigrants. “They are using a weapon that has the potential to cause great bodily harm.”
“The youngster is afraid and feels helpless. The family’s attorney continued, “There is nothing she can do in the hands of these adults who treated her so ruthlessly, violently, and sadistically.
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The mother immediately took her daughter to the doctor to get the bruises and red scars left by the paddle documented. She is now concerned about potential long-term psychological harm.
If I couldn’t do it in front of her, I’m going to do it with justice, the mother added. “I’m going to get justice for my daughter.”
We hope that the school will issue more instructions and a statement regarding the occurrence, and that this parent receives the justice she so well deserves.
