A South Florida mother is demanding action after claiming a teacher attacked her 11-year-old son during a recent field trip.
Yasmine François said her son, Kendrick, a sixth grader at McNicol Middle School in Hollywood, was choked during a field trip to the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 20, according to WSVN 7News.
Initially, the school informed her that Kendrick had been involved in a fight. In response, when her son returned home, François confiscated his phone and began reevaluating the extent of his Christmas gifts.
However, a friend later sent her a video of the brawl.
In the video shared by the mother, Kendrick identifies a woman, believed to be a teacher, who can be seen pulling him toward a picnic bench before jumping on top of him.
The video’s audio captures what seems to be a slap, and in addition, the woman seen in the footage can be heard shouting profanities at the child, leaving François stunned.
“How do you handle a kid like that? Who does that?” she exclaimed.
Initially, François was skeptical of her son’s account and didn’t immediately give him the benefit of the doubt before seeing the video.
“I said, ‘You know what? It’s Christmas, he knows he’s in trouble, so he’s probably – I didn’t believe that. I said, ‘No teacher would choke you, especially a lady, like no,’” she said.
François mentioned that her son received a three-day suspension, but the school principal failed to report the teacher’s actions, which, according to François, clearly crossed the line.
“You’re a teacher, and this is how you address your student? That’s the language? Is that the vocabulary you use to speak to a kid? Is that how you speak in the classroom?” she said, adding that the teacher should be held accountable.
“I’m not the mom that’s gonna take sides with my son. Like, if you do something bad, you know, you do something bad. I’ll most likely side with the school before I side with you,” she said. “I’m highly disappointed because I feel like I was misled. They told me what he did. They didn’t tell me what they did to him.”
Broward County Schools spokesperson John Sullivan said, “Upon learning of the video, the district is thoroughly investigating the matter. The employee involved is not scheduled to return to work until January 6th and has no contact with students.”
Classes went on holiday break since the altercation.
François expressed her hope that once school resumes, she will have the opportunity to sit down with school officials to discuss the incident and address the situation.
In a similar but unrelated incident in early December, an 11-year-old sixth grader at DeRenne Middle School in Savannah, Georgia, was thrown over a row of desks by a football coach when the kid confronted him about allegedly making inappropriate comments about his mom in front of the class.
The boy suffered a concussion and multiple bruises from the incident. The district stated that the teacher was temporarily reassigned but has since resigned from his position. The boy’s mother immediately called for criminal charges, but so far, authorities have not made an arrest.
