NAACP investigating Florida daycare after Black toddler allegedly handcuffed during Rosa Parks lesson
NAACP investigating Florida daycare
The NAACP is calling on the Florida Department of Children and Families to investigate an Osceola County daycare. In the letter, it claims a 2-year-old black student at Building Brains Academy was the "subject to an alarming act of simulation, where she was handcuffed and fingerprinted by a white peer."
ST. CLOUD, Fla. - The NAACP is calling on the Florida Department of Children and Families to investigate an Osceola County daycare.
In the letter, it claims a 2-year-old Black student at Building Brains Academy was the "subject to an alarming act of simulation, where she was handcuffed and fingerprinted by a white peer," reportedly during a Rosa Parks lesson.
FOX 35 News spoke with the parents of the toddler. They didn't want to reveal their face or identity but said this situation angered them. They were first alerted to the situation when they saw photos sent to them in the school app.
"Her hands restrained behind her back as if she was being taken into custody. Then the next image was her hands being placed on a table as if she was being booked, and the look on her face alone, it was horrific."
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FOX 35 News contacted the school. In a statement, it said:
"Unfortunately, the photographs shared do not offer a complete or accurate representation of the full lesson about the importance of equal rights. Our school believes in and teaches the importance of equality, of standing up for our rights, and of speaking up when we see something isn't right. We teach these lessons not to celebrate the wrongdoings of others in the past, but to encourage our children to prevent such actions in the future. We deeply regret the assumption that our teachers, our leadership, or our administration would in any way choose to make a child feel uncomfortable or negatively singled out."
The statement went on to say:
"One of the classes in our multicultural school was learning about the legacy of Rosa Parks and the importance of treating each other with respect and equality. In the spirit of the moment, the class spontaneously decided to act out the elements of Ms. Parks’ story, including her arrest for refusing to give up her seat at the front of the bus."
The parents told FOX 35 News in response to that statement, "there's so many ways to teach the Rosa Parks story."
The NAACP is asking for the "immediate cessation of such activities within the curriculum at Building Brains Academy." It also said in the letter it would be "exploring all legal avenues to address this grave matter and ensure such incidents are not repeated."
The parents pulled their daughter from the daycare and said she is back to her bubbly self.
"As we were approaching the school where the incident happened, she got very quiet and very, very reserved. But then we passed it, we had our daughter back. She was bubbly."
FOX 35 News has contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families. We're waiting for a response.