A Detroit mom is using her voice to ask for action, saying that a little boy has repeatedly inappropriately touched his classmates in school in recent weeks and that has now happened to her daughter as well.
She decided to protest outside her child's school until she is told what officials there are doing to address this serious matter. The mom was furious at them, telling reporters that they let her daughter think this is okay.
This mother of a 6-year-old girl, who is a student at the National Heritage Academy's Detroit Merit Academy, said that her school needs to think about how its processes can teach damaging and dangerous lessons.
School did not notify mom quickly about the groping incident
7 Action News did not report the name of the mother protesting to protect the privacy of her 6-year-old kid. She has numerous problems with how the school handled the complaint of her daughter on November 21. Her child reported to school officials that a six-year-old classmate groped her.
One problem that the mother wants to be addressed was the amount of time the school took for them to notify her. She said that the incident happened at 11 a.m. and she only got the call at 2:30. Another problem for the mom is that her daughter was pulled out of class with the boy.
She said that the school showed her daughter that that is okay. She added that they let her continue coloring with the little boy right next to her. She said that her daughter was visibly upset when she got there.
Another problem, according to the mom, is that this was not an isolated incident for her daughter at all. She learned that other students were also groped in recent weeks. She said that her daughter told her that she is just tired of him touching her down there.
Mom asks why boy was not suspended by school?
She thought the boy would be suspended for his actions and she would have time to work out a safety plan for her daughter. That was not the case at all as the 6-year-old boy was still in class the following day.
The school sent a letter to the parents of their students, saying that the school leadership team became aware of a student inappropriately poking three students. They said that they removed the student from the classroom and they investigated the situation thoroughly.
According to civil rights attorney Deb Gordon, the law states that the conduct must be stopped by the school. Gordon said that according to state law, schools have to report to Children's Protective Services inappropriate touching by their student.
Federal and state law also requires schools to take action to make the harassment stop. She said that there is a problem if it has happened repeatedly to multiple students. To ensure that there is a pathway to accountability, Gordon said it is important that parents communicate about discrimination issues and sexual assault or harassment in writing.
