OSAGE, IOWA – An Osage mom says she’s not happy with how her child was treated at school recently, when two educators allegedly “grabbed” her 6-year-old daughter by the arms and then a principal put her in a “hold” with her arms across her chest.
Denise Thompson of Osage wrote to NorthIowaToday.com last week about the incident. She claims that on January 27, her daughter was involved in an incident at Lincoln Elementary in Osage during class where teachers asked her to change behavior and her daughter, Kaylee, refused. Two teachers and the school principal allegedly became involved in the situation, as she describes:
“My 6 year old daughter got in trouble in school on 1/27/2016. According to the teacher and principal my daughter was fidgeting with her bracelet and the teachers had asked her to stop. She refused. So they asked her if she would give them the bracelet to hold on to and they’d give it back when school was out. She again said no because she doesn’t trust that they’ll give it back. So they called the principal down and he told her that she had two options either willingly go with him or they would “help” her leave the room. She refused. So the principal told her teacher to take the class for a walk. Then he and another teacher grabbed her by the upper arms and wrists and forced her out of the room into the hallway. Where my daughter then dropped down to the floor to try to get away from them. The principal then took her to the floor and restrained her with her arms held across her chest. I was not contacted until after all this happened. If they would have contacted me sooner I could have come to the school and avoided all of this. My daughter was so traumatized, embarrassed, and confused by this situation. They caused her to have an accident and then claimed that she never asked to go to the bathroom. Not to mention when I got home my oldest daughter told me that she seen the incident in the hallway before she even knew that I already knew about it. And I got a message from one of my daughter’s classmate’s parents asking if my daughter was ok. Her classmate told their parent that they thought they were going to break my daughters arms and that she didn’t do anything wrong. The classmate also told their mother that they are now afraid to go to school because of what happened to my daughter. I’m in the process of finding someone to take our case to sue. I don’t want this to happen to anyone elses kids.”
After Ms. Thompson reached out to NIT about this incident, NIT contacted Barb Schwamman, Superintendent of Osage Schools, via email, asking about the incident and including the narrative provided by Ms. Thompson:
“Some information was sent to our newsroom by a parent (Denise Thompson) of a child at your school. It is regarding a restraint of her daughter by school staff at Lincoln Elementary. She says the principal is Greg Adams and the two teachers that were involved were Mrs. Mohl and Mrs. Boge. We do always make a point to follow up with anything our readers send. I’d like to provide you with the information Ms. Thompson sent and of course ask you if you – or the employees involved – would offer a comment or possible explanation on it.”
Ms. Schwamman called NIT to acknowledge our questions. However, she could not comment on the incident.
Denise Thompson says her daughter has been back in school since the incident late last week but likely will not be going back. Her family will be seeking home school options instead. She said she will keep NIT informed as to any developments in this matter.
Osage mom unhappy with teachers’ restraint of daughter after she says principal and teacher "grabbed" 6-year-old and…
Posted by NorthIowaToday.com on Monday, February 1, 2016
Jesus christ I have been reading these comments and you people just dont know how to raise your kids
I’ve been a teacher and can imagine the situation, but will say that there are two sides to every story with truth somewhere in the middle. I will add that today’s children have been taught that they do not have to respect authority. Many of them spend a good portion of their time being disrespectful and disobedient to their parents and to other adults. Unfortunately, the media, perpetuates this behavior by often portraying adults as buffoons and children as voices of wisdom and “common sense”.
Parents, please support the school in matters of discipline. This child should have stopped playing with her bracelet when asked. She should have given her teacher the bracelet when it was requested. Instead of being angry with the school, the child’s mother should have told her daughter that adults in authority are to be trusted to know what is best for children and that when a student does not respect adults who are looking out for the best interest of an entire classroom (students who are supposed to be paying attention in class and not fooling around) then that student should be, and will be disciplined. The children who are now “afraid” to go back to school should be given the same message by their parents. The teachers in Osage are not evil, although they may be frustrated trying to deal permissive parents and with more and more little tyrants in their classrooms. Today’s parents have failed their children miserably by teaching them that they don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do and that the grownups trying to teach them will be the ones getting in trouble rather than the kids.