A Colorado teacher has become the source of debate online after they allegedly took one of their student’s backpacks and dumped all of their belongings into a trash can in front of the entire class. Now, their parent is reaching out for advice about how to handle the tense situation, especially since they’ve gotten no real support or help from the child’s school. The sixth grader reportedly had personal items destroyed, all to seemingly teach them a lesson.
A parent of a middle school student from Colorado took to the Legal Advice Reddit this week to share their story. The parent claims that their child asked the teacher to exchange their backpack for a pencil to use during class, and was forced to repeat themself when the teach didn’t understand the question. After the second attempt, the teacher allegedly took the child’s backpack and threw their personal belongings into the garbage can in front of the rest of the class.
“On Monday my child walked up to this teacher and asked him if he could trade his backpack for a pencil to use during the class period, the teacher stated he didn’t hear him, so my son repeated himself and said can I trade my backpack for a pencil. The teacher then took my son‘s backpack, opened the zippers and dumped everything that was in the backpack into the garbage in front of a classroom of children and then told my child to go sit down at his seat,” the parent wrote on the forum.
“This backpack had all of his schoolwork, some forms that need signed, a library book and personal belongings. This teacher never retrieved his belongings from the trash, he allowed them to be thrown into the garbage that night, and he didn’t even bother giving my child back his backpack, I had to go request it.”
The parent went on to say that a principal at the Colorado school reached out to the teacher to ask about the situation. The teacher then reportedly corroborated the student’s story, and claimed that they were trying to teach the tween a lesson.
Colorado Parent Wants Answers After Teacher Destroyed Son’s Personal Property
The parent says that her son is now “humiliated” and no longer attending that class until something is done about the situation. However, the family isn’t getting the support from the school that they had hoped.
Some people are encouraging the angry parent to go directly to the schoolboard without school administrators playing the middle man. They’ve also suggested suing the teacher in small claims court for the loss of any personal items, or involving the police.
“You may also want to pursue small claims court against the teacher. Not that the value of the items is significant but to send the message that it is unacceptable for a teacher to destroy a student’s personal property,” one person commented.
It’s unclear how the situation will play out. However, it seems that the parent is determined to get some answers as well as keep her son away from the teacher following the incident.
