A nursery class teacher was suspended from her position as a precautionary measure after the filing of at least four complaints against her by families of students reporting both physical and psychological violence.
Have acts of violence against young children been committed by their teacher? An investigation into violence was opened on Friday March 15 by the Gironde public prosecutor’s office after the filing of four complaints by parents of students against a kindergarten teacher from Belin-Béliet (Gironde), reveals the daily South West. The teacher is notably accused of having slapped children and pulling their ears. The investigation, opened for “intentional violence without ITT on a minor under 15 years old by a person with authority” was entrusted to the unit against attacks on persons and children (Cape) of the Arcachon gendarmerie brigade.
Night terrors
Among parents, a feeling of anger and emotion mixes. “It all started before the February holidays. My son came home from school complaining about his ear. His lobe was torn,” one of the first mothers to file a complaint told our colleagues. “He told me that he had hurt himself, before admitting that the teacher had gotten very angry and had pulled his ear,” she continued. Several other testimonies subsequently came to support a situation that several children would face.
Fear of school, stomach aches, some even suffer from night terrors. “(My daughter) has suffered from night terrors since September and ended up admitting that the teacher pulls her ears and slaps, while trivializing these gestures,” explains a mother to Sud Ouest. Alerted by such actions, the Bordeaux rectorate took the decision to suspend its teacher “as a precaution for the duration of instruction”, explaining that it took the accusations made against her very seriously. She must therefore be replaced from the coming week by another teacher.