A video has gone viral on Twitter showing footage of toddlers left unsupervised in a room at school while one child is repeatedly hitting, slapping, and pushing the other child down. So many aspects of the video are alarming and concerning social media users — namely that so many young and small children were left alone in a room without an adult. The school has been identified as Tenderfoot in Chikkalasandra, a suburb of Bangalore in an Indian state. The video posted by Citizens movement @east_bengaluru is warning parents not to send their kids to school there.
The video has been viewed over 300,000 times on Twitter and has received more than 1,000 retweets. Twitter users who identify as parents, educators, and others have been commenting and sharing that the school should be investigated as well as the parents of the aggressive child and that the attending staff member be fired. A screenshot of a message posted with the video noted the children were left unattended for a whole 10 minutes.
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Social media users are concerned that the children appeared to be left alone without any adult supervision for quite some time.
A female adult is initially seen in the room with the children at the very beginning of the video but quickly leaves the room with a child, perhaps to take the little one to the bathroom, but leaves a whole room of toddlers unsupervised. It is then that a larger and possibly older child begins attacking another toddler, slapping the toddler across the face and pushing the child down.
According to the Citizens Movement, the children were left alone for 10 minutes, which is long enough for a disturbing incident to occur. The other children are peering out the window and the door, appearing to be trying to get out or waiting for the adult to come back.
Authorities stepped in after the video went viral.
After the closed-circuit TV footage from the school went viral, Bengaluru police responded with a tweet. The video was posted June 22, and it appears the authorities replied the same day.
“Your complaint has been forwarded to the police inspector of Subramanyapura Police Station for necessary action,” the Tweet stated, per News 9. The Citizens Movement account also tagged the deputy commissioner of police, asking for an update on any action taken, but it does not appear there has been any reply or update on the matter yet.
Sadly, bullying habits and tendencies can start at a very young age.
According to the Anti-Bullying Alliance, children can start displaying bullying behaviors as early as 3 years old. The alliance also notes that bullying behavior has distinct identifying characteristics such as being repetitive, hurtful, and intentional, and involving a power imbalance.
The organization recommends never telling the bullied child to “ignore” the behavior of the “bully” and to work with the other child to change their behavior and attitude, an effort that should take place at home as well as in the learning setting or environment.
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Twitter users are calling for action against the school and parents of the aggressive child and for an investigation of the school.
Judging from the video posted, many believe the whole Tenderfoot school as well as the administrative staff and teachers need to be investigated. Twitter users want action against the school, supervising adult, and parents of the bullying child.
One Twitter user reposted the video, commenting, “I say this as a Preschool teacher of a toddler class of 15 kids. YOU NEVER I MEAN NEVER LEAVE YOUR CLASS UNATTENDED. Turning your back for a second in a toddler class is enough for an incident to happen. Let alone leaving the room. Fire the teacher for negligence.”
Another user reposted and commented, adding that the child’s parents should be investigated. “Should Investigate His Parents for Domestic Violence….”
“Such irresponsible play schools should be shut down immediately for their careless behaviour,” someone else wrote.
