A Florida mother is accusing an elementary school teacher of racism after a video showed the teacher performing a different version of “Happy Birthday” to her six-year-old son that included the racial insult “monkey.”
Floral Avenue Elementary School in Bartow was the site of the event.
The Event and Mother’s Anger
The teacher filmed the class celebrating the boy’s sixth birthday. The teacher called the “funny version” of the song after the pupils finished singing the traditional song.
The teacher asked the birthday child, whose name was Legend, if he wanted the other song in the 43-second film. He said yes. Then she sang the words “Happy birthday to you.” You live in a zoo. “You smell and look like a monkey.” Then she laughed and told the other pupils to clap for him.
Desarae Prather, the boy’s mother, told The Ledger that she was shocked and angry. “I couldn’t believe it,” she remarked. “It’s not funny.” Later, she put the video on social media to get people to notice what happened and said the teacher’s actions were discriminatory.
Mother Seeks Counseling After Child Is Humiliated
Prather said that her son Legend was embarrassed by what happened and is now unwilling to go back to school because he is afraid his classmates will nickname him a “monkey.”
“I don’t like that, and that’s you humiliating him in front of his friends,” Prather replied, showing how much she cared about her son’s emotional health. “Kids shouldn’t have to go to school and worry that they can’t trust a teacher without being called names. I need to get him counseling now since he was weeping and saying he doesn’t want to go back to her class or that school.
The district’s response and the mother’s demands
Polk County Public Schools has already posted a public statement on social media saying that both the district and human resources are looking into the situation.
Desarae Prather, on the other hand, says that the district has not been in touch with her since she filed her complaint. She wants the teacher to be dismissed and her family to get a written apology.
Prather stated, “I think she should take responsibility for what she did.” “She should write an apology to my son and my family because what she did was wrong, and my son will be traumatized for the rest of his life.”