Mother says teacher caught on video choking 11-year-old son while on field trip crossed the line
Yasmine François said the incident occurred while her son was on a field trip at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 20.
By Nicole Linsalata, Kevin Boulandier
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HOLLYWOOD, Florida (WSVN) — A South Florida mother is demanding accountability after, she said, her 11-year-old son was attacked by a teacher while on a field trip.
Speaking with 7News on Thursday, Yasmine François said the incident occurred while her son Kendrick, a sixth-grade student at McNicol Middle School in Hollywood, was on a field trip at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 20.
François said she initially got a call that Kendrick had gotten into a fight.
Upon the child’s arrival at home, François took away his phone and prepared to scale back his Christmas gifts.
But then a friend sent her a video showing the moments after the fight.
The video, provided by the mother, shows a woman identified by Kendrick as a teacher pulling him into a picnic bench, then jumping on top of him.
Audio from the video captures what sounds like a slap. On top of all that, the woman seen in the clip yelled profanities at the child.
François said she was stunned.
“How do you handle a kid like that? Who does that?” she said.
Before seeing the video, François said she was skeptical of what had occurred.
“I said, ‘You know what? It’s Christmas, he knows he’s in trouble, so he’s probably – I didn’t believe that. I said, ‘No teacher would choke you, especially a lady, like no,’” she said.
François said her son got a three-day school suspension, adding that the school principal never reported the teacher’s actions which, the concerned mother said, crossed the line.
“You’re a teacher and you address your student? That’s the language? Is that the vocabulary you use to speak to a kid? Is that how you speak in the classroom?” said François.
The mother now wants the teacher to be held accountable.
“I’m not the mom that’s gonna take sides with my son. Like, if you do something bad, you know, you do something bad. I’ll most likely side with the school before I side with you,” she said. “I’m highly disappointed because I feel like I was misled. They told me what he did. They didn’t tell me what they did to him.”
Broward County Schools did not immediately respond to 7News’ request for comment, as they are on winter break.
The mother hopes that once school resumes, she can sit down and have a conversation with school officials about what occurred.
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