Older bully hangs second-grader by his neck in school bathroom — but district shockingly calls it ‘horseplay’: parent
A Maryland second-grader was rushed to the hospital after he was “hung” in the boys’ bathroom by an older bully who told him, “I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day,” his parents claim.
The horrifying incident, which left the 7-year-old boy in the hospital with a neck contusion, unfolded Friday at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School in Waldorf, a suburb about 23 miles southeast of Washington, DC, WUSA9 reported.
“My child who is a second grader was hung in the boys’ bathroom by a fourth grader,” the boy’s mother wrote on social media, according to the outlet.
“I received the most traumatizing phone call from the school stating that my child was being rushed to children’s hospital in NW,” she claimed. “I’m feeling anger and seeing red, but my son is here by the grace of GOD, and I will forever be thankful!”
Paperwork from the boy’s hospital visit listed one of his injuries as a neck contusion, which is caused by blunt trauma.
“If you look at my son, he has marks under his eyes, like blood vessels, he still has bruises on his neck from being choked,” the boy’s parents, who did not want to be identified, told the outlet.
“He’s traumatized. It’s going to take time,” the boy’s mother added. “This is not something he’s going to just get over overnight.”
Charles County Public Schools confirmed the incident, chalking it up to “horseplay” in a letter to parents — an answer that the boy’s family feel is not sufficient.
“It doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re horseplaying, how do you get caught on a hook? Like we need answers, I want answers, and we won’t stop ’til we get answers,” his mother said.
“My son did tell me that when they were in the bathroom, he said the little boy told him, ‘I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day,’ that’s why I feel like it’s bullying,” the disturbed parent said. “It’s not telling how many other kids this has happened to.”
While the parents have removed their son from the school, they hope the district will improve how it monitors students.
“I want to see a policy in place, at least hallway monitors, I want to know why is a fourth-grader in the same bathroom as a second-grader? Most schools have them divided,” the mother said. “I feel this is very unacceptable.”
“These are all our children, and they are the future, so we just need to protect them. Like we sending our kids to school every day thinking that they are safe,” the boy’s father said.
