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Houston mother says teacher physically abused her child
A Houston mother says her 12-year-old daughter was left bruised by a teacher at school. FOX 26’s Damali Keith has more on the investigation into the accusation.
HOUSTON - A Houston mom says her 12-year-old daughter was left bruised by a teacher at school. The 6th grader’s arm has a pretty big purple bruise on it. She says the mark was left after a teacher laid hands on her.
"I don’t do my child like that and I don’t want anybody else to mistreat my baby," says Jamie Collier.
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On Wednesday, when 12-year-old Areonna Barlow’s 6th grade Burbank Middle School class was heading to next period, she says she and other students began pushing toward the door and a teacher, who wasn’t the teacher of the class, stopped her.
"When everybody was like about to run out of the class, that’s when she grabbed my arm," says the 12-year-old.
The 6th grader says as the teacher squeezed her arm. "She was like 'I’m not the one to play with and I’m going to hurt your feelings and then I went and started crying," Areonna says she immediately reported it to her school counselor.
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"I was upset because her arm is a mess. I can show you her arm," says Collier as she rotates her daughter’s arm to show the bruise. Collier has filed a complaint with Houston ISD Police and says she wants the teacher fired and criminally charged.
"This is abuse. This child was abused and also threatened by her teacher. She followed through with the threat that she made. The child was hurt," says Education Advocate Nikki Keyser.
Collier contacted Keyser for help because she says she's afraid Houston ISD isn’t taking her daughter being injured by a teacher as seriously as she is.
"Areonna does not want to go back to school. This mother does not want to send her kid to school because she does not feel safe. This teacher does not deserve the right to be in our classroom and caring for our kids," Keyser says.
"It’s just a scary feeling to know your child is scared to go to school," Collier adds.
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Child Protective Services confirms the agency has launched an investigation.
HISD says "At HISD, the safety of our students is our top priority. The district is aware of an allegation of misconduct at Burbank Middle School. Due to the pending investigation, HISD will not be providing additional information at this time."