3-Year-Old Claims Teacher Hits Him But His Mother is Doubtful

Parents are a child’s best advocate. Kids often cannot defend themselves, so they rely on parents to protect and stick up for them.

One mother went viral on social media for her story about her child confiding in her and telling her some troubling news.

The Son Claimed His Teacher Hit Him

The original poster (OP) has a three-year-old son attending daycare. Her son came home one day and shared some disturbing news. He told OP that one of his teachers was hitting him.

Disturbed, OP asked her son for details. Two hours later, OP’s boyfriend asked her son the same question. Both received the same exact answers, “Miss X hits me and [name of other child].”

Could It Be True?

OP had a choice to make. She could dismiss this as childhood exaggeration and risk missing the truth, or she could believe her son and possibly get embarrassed if he was lying.

“I decided to believe him,” she told readers.

The following morning, OP reached out to the daycare. She emailed the director and discussed her son’s allegations. The director launched an investigation and reviewed security footage of the accused teacher’s classroom.

They Launched an Investigation

The revelations were not good. “[The director] saw worse than hitting, [there was also] grabbing by the arms while yelling in [OP’s son’s] face [and] putting him onto his cot very hard.”

The daycare is part of a larger corporation and took its findings seriously. “[They] are doing a very thorough investigation,” OP wrote, “and I’m scared of what else they may find.”

The Parent Couldn’t Believe It

OP fretted over what might have happened had she dismissed her son’s statements. “What would have happened if I didn’t believe him and report it immediately? How many more times would she have hurt him? How bad would it have gotten? How many other kids could this have happened to?”

These ideas chilled her. She realized that had she not followed through on the allegations, her son could have suffered prolonged trauma. He may have even grown up to resent her and not trust adults in his life based on the experience.

The Lesson Was Clear

“Please believe your child(ren),” OP begged readers. “We are their biggest and usually only advocates. I’d rather be ’embarrassed’ that my kid is lying than feel the shame of not protecting him when he needed me.”

Survivors of Abuse Came Forward

Since OP shared her story, users have expanded on the post with their own thoughts and experiences—some tragic, others hopeful.

“My parents did not side with me when they read my diary, in which I had written about being sexually abused by our neighbor/close family friend,” one user confessed. “They didn’t believe me until three other girls came forward, and he was convicted.”

She shared how the experience still harms her decades later, saying that it messed her up in ways she “will never finish detangling” and urging readers to always believe their children.

READ MORE: She Didn’t Want Her Son To Sleep At His Girlfriend’s Because “Something Felt Very Off”— And She Was Right

Traumatic Experiences in Childhood Stay With You

Another survivor of childhood abuse expressed lingering wounds as well. “My mother never believed me when I told her what was happening to me,” the commenter wrote, “I live with that trauma every single day.”

One parent assumed her son was exaggerating, only to find out his teacher was indeed crossing the line. “When my oldest son was four, he told me that his teacher was threatening to throw spiders on the kids if they didn’t sleep,” the mom told readers. “He said [the teacher] kept them in a pink box on a shelf.”

As it was near Halloween, she assumed her son was being silly. Halloween came and went, and the boy told her about other threats involving a ruler the teacher called “Mr. Do-Right”. When she went to the administration to investigate, it turned out all her son’s claims were true.

Tell The Police

Many users advised OP to go beyond the limits of the daycare administration and seek legal recourse. “Please file a police report ASAP,” one of them wrote, “It seems that the school is taking appropriate actions… but the teacher’s behavior likely went beyond a policy violation and broke the law.”

The United States government’s Child Welfare Information Gateway provides resources by state and means of reporting suspected child abuse.

In the end, OP trusted her gut, and it saved her child—and likely other children—from an abusive situation.

Her post has become a space for others to vent about their childhood experiences and for parents to advise and support one another.

The main message many shared over and over again is that it is always better to believe children and be wrong than to possibly miss a dangerous situation. 

This article was produced and syndicated by TPR Teaching. Source.

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