WALDORF, Md. — A Charles County family is speaking out after their 7-year-old son ended up in the hospital following an incident at his elementary school.
The boy's mom posted about her son's experience online and it has since gone viral, with over 215,000 likes on Instagram as of Saturday night.
"My child who is a second grader was hung in the boys' bathroom by a fourth grader," the mother's social media post read. "I received the most traumatizing phone call from the school stating that my child was being rushed to children's hospital in NW ... I'm feeling anger and seeing red, but my son is here by the grace of GOD, and I will forever be thankful!"
The parents are angry and confused but also thankful that their son is still alive.
“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 said, both fighting tears.
It’s hard to hide their emotions as these two parents who did not want to be identified talked about their son. They’re hoping for answers after they said their son was hung by a fourth grade student in the boy's bathroom Friday.
“He’s traumatized. It’s going to take time,” the mother of the student said. “This is not something he’s going to just get over overnight.”
Paperwork provided by the family from the hospital lists one of his injuries as neck contusion --which is caused by blunt trauma. The 7-year-old is a second grader at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School in Waldorf, MD.
Charles County Public Schools said they’re aware of what happened to the second grader.
“Dear Parents, Guardians and Staff:
I want to update you on a situation that occurred today at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School. This afternoon, two of our students were reportedly horseplaying in a school bathroom when one student’s jacket got caught on a stall door hook. The student was not able to free themselves and the other student involved was also not able to help them. This student left the bathroom to seek help from staff and reported the incident to administrators. Administrators responded and were able to assist, but staff called 911 for additional precautionary medical support.
Due to privacy reasons, I am not able to share any additional details with you. I understand that the initial 911 report resulted in a first responder call that shared a possible suicide attempt occurred at our school. This was then posted on social media by a community member, causing a bit of community concern. Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) quickly shared an update with you as well as the Barnhart staff to dispel any inaccurate information beginning to circulate.
I apologize for the delay in that update, but our administrative team was addressing the needs of our students. The incident was also reported to our school resource officer (SRO). Any time we have an emergency situation at our school, the administrative team will quickly address, ensure all students and staff are safe and then communicate with parents after we have accurate information to share. I appreciate the quick thinking of the student who reported their classmate needed help, our staff for calmly managing a schedule disruption, and our students who followed our directions this afternoon so emergency medical services (EMS) could enter the school and provide care for the student. Thank you for your continued support of C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School.“
But the 7-year-old boy's mother still has questions for the school.
“If doesn’t make sense to me," she said. "If you’re horse playing, how do you get caught on a hook? Like we need answers, I want answers, and we won’t stop till we get answers.”
His parents said they’re sharing their sides of the story in hopes of preventing this from happening to anyone else.
“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,” his mother said. “It’s no telling how many other kids this has happened to.”
Now they say they want the school district to step up.
“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 father said.
The parents said their son will not return to the school, but they hope to hear more updates from the district soon.
On Sunday, the Charles County Public School Superintendent released a statement following our reporting.
"As with any incident in any of our schools, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) cannot legally release personally identifiable information about students. This includes specific details about incidents...I have seen the comments online stating that the school and the CCPS are covering up what happened. That is not true. The principal nor the school system are hiding anything."
This comes after the school issued a statement saying that the boys were horseplaying, resulting in the 7-year-old being hospitalized.