A Black 5-year-old says he was forced to unclog a school toilet with his bare hands by his white teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas; KARK 4 News reports. The child’s mother Ashley Murry is now calling for the instructor’s termination.
“It’s degrading for a child, so I don’t feel like any child should have to go through this,” she told the outlet, adding that she was horrified when her son told her what happened.
“They basically made him go in the toilet and get his feces and the dirty tissue out of the toilet,” she explained.
According to KARK, the boy is a kindergarten student at Crystal Hill Elementary School. The outlet does not include the child’s name, but a Go Fund Me page for the family says his name is Ashton.
After the incident, Ashley said she received a call from the teacher, who could not explain her disturbing actions.
“She got on the phone with me and she said she didn’t have an explanation, she just knew she was wrong,” Ashley said. “But she stated to the principal that she was trying to teach how not to stop up the toilet.”
Ashely enlisted the help of her mother, Tami Murry, who told the teacher, “That’s not good enough for me.”
“You want a child to put their hand in there physically and clean out the commode? No, no, no, no, no. He’s not a janitor. He’s not a custodian. He’s not maintenance. No, not at all,” she added to KARK.
Ashley has since pulled her son out of the class and is demanding that the teacher, whose identity has not been reported, be terminated. The Pulaski County Special School District said it is “actively” investigating the situation and that the teacher has been placed on administrative leave.
“She needs to be terminated because you don’t treat kids like this. He is a kid,” Ashley said.
“I don’t ever want this to happen to another child again,” her mother Tami added.
According to the Go Fund Me page in support of the boy, his family is seeking “assistance with legal fees as they try to seek justice from the Pulaski County Special School District.” The campaign added that the 5-year-old, who “has been traumatized,” will need counseling due to the horrible encounter.
The teacher will reportedly remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the school district’s investigation. In a statement to KATV, the district said, “Employees across the district work hard every day to create an environment where students feel safe and protected. As is district policy, we cannot disclose information in regards to disciplinary personnel matters.”
See tweets about the matter below.