Although it seems completely ridiculous and uncalled for, it seems that police were called to an end-of-the-year class party for third graders at an elementary School in Collingswood, New Jersey last year.
The whole situation is a bit vague, but it seems a third grader made a questionable comment about the brownies being served to the class as refreshments for the party. Apparently, another student the said that the remark was “racist,” so for some bizarre ad inexplicable reason school staff called the Collingswood Police Department instead of ignoring a petty incident and moving on.
It seems the police didn’t have enough sense to back off either. Apparently the officer aggressively questioned the nine-year-old student who supposedly made a racist comment, said the boy’s mother, Stacy dos Santos.
Dos Santos claims administrators overreacted and that her son commented about the snacks, not anybody’s skin color.
Of note, the boy’s father was also contacted by Collingswood police later in the day. Even more over the top, the police referred the “incident” to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Perhaps worst of all, the boy ended up staying home and missing his last day of school.
Dos Santos says that her son was traumatized by the whole experience, and she will enroll him another Collingswood public school this fall.
The upset mom noted that she graduated from Collingswood High School, and has two other children, a 21-year-old who also attended Collingswood schools, and a preschooler. Her husband is the third grader’s father.
“I’m not comfortable with the administration [at Tatem]. I don’t trust them and neither does my child,” Dos Santos said. “He was intimidated, obviously. There was a police officer with a gun in the holster talking to my son, saying, ‘Tell me what you said.’ He didn’t have anybody on his side.”
This unnecessary incident has outraged many parents in Collingwood. Local media sources also note this is just one of many recent incidents where Collingswood police have been called to school for reasons many parents say do not require criminal investigation.
Collingswood District Superintendent Scott Oswald admitted that in June 2016, records showed that police officers responded to as many as five incidents a day at schools in the district of 1,875 students.
Source: Philly
Photos: Google Maps
