An investigation is underway after a horrifying incident left a 7-year-old boy hospitalized with serious injuries. The family of the boy believes the injuries are far more ominous than the school is letting on...
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On Friday (Nov. 15), the young Maryland student was in his school bathroom with at least one older student. According to the boy’s family, that’s when the other student, a 4th grader, told the boy “I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day.”
From there, the family says the boy was hung from a stall-door hook. According to the boy’s mother, “the principal went into the bathroom & found my baby foaming out the mouth & unconscious.” He was then rushed to the hospital with serious injuries to his neck. Hospital paperwork listed one of his injuries as a neck contusion caused by blunt trauma, according to the New York Post.
Following the incident, the boy’s mother took to Instagram in an emotional post detailing her son’s experience. She wrote “Everything about this is unacceptable nothing about this is ok BULLYING is never ok.” Continuing on, she said she feels “anger & [is] seeing red but my son is here by the grace of GOD and I will forever be thankful!”
The corresponding picture to the post shows her son laying in a hospital bed with a neck brace on. The boy has since been released from the hospital, although he is still recovering. His parents told WUSA9, “he has marks under his eyes, like blood vessels, he still has bruises on his neck from being choked.”
As much as the incident surprised the Charles Country community, it was the response from the boy’s school, Barnhart Elementary School, that sent shock waves directly to the family.
In a statement, Principal Carrie Burke said the boys were simply “horseplaying in a school bathroom when one student’s jacket got caught on a stall door hook.” She continued, “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.”
In response to the statement, the boy’s mother said “It doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re horseplaying, how do you get caught on a hook? Like we need answers...we won’t stop ’til we get answers.”
With the school labeling the ordeal as a simple case of “boys will be boys,” the victim’s parents continue to speak out on there son’s behalf saying “He’s traumatized. It’s going to take time.” The mother told News4: “every single time I try to get into details, he just bursts out crying.”
The boy’s parents are demanding a thorough investigation into what led to the life threatening incident.
Since the investigation started, the boy’s mother shared the fourth grader allegedly responsible for hanging her son is also Black. “The is not a race issue. This is a school/parent issue,” she wrote on Instagram. Additionally, she shared the fourth grader is a known bully in the school.
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