Two South Carolina parents are outraged after they say a teacher threw away their 6-year-old daughters shoes because she was fidgeting with them while in class at Bryson Elementary in Simpsonville, WSPA reports.
According to the report, Chartrese Edwards was getting her daughter, Taraji Edwards, ready for school when the little girl began to make a fuss.
"She began to cry, 'No, Mommy, I don't want to wear those sandals,’" Chartrese Edwards told the news station.
When Edwards asked her daughter why, her daughter confessed that the day before, she was fidgeting with her shoes and ignored the teacher's warnings to stop. That's when the teacher trashed Taraji's sandals.
Taraji said that the strap had been bothering her in math class last week.
“I was messing with my shoes, and the teacher told me eight times or seven, and I never listened,” Taraji said.
Taraji said that the teacher made her walk around barefoot for a while before allowing her to retrieve her shoes from the bin and put them back on her feet.
“I feel like it was malicious behavior,” Edwards said. “I’m angry about it because you could have used a better method.”
Taraji said that she felt "embarrassed" by the situation.
"I did not like how she treated me," the little girl said. "That's not a way I can make friends."
Edwards said that she went to speak to the principal and the teacher at the school after hearing her daughter's complaint.
“[The teacher] easily confessed,” Edwards said. "‘Yes, I did. I told her to leave the shoes alone, and she did not listen to me.’”
The school district released a statement saying that it was taking the family's case seriously: "The district does not tolerate embarrassment or humiliation as a form of punishment. This matter is being thoroughly investigated by Bryson Elementary and by district administrators. The investigation is not yet complete. As this is a personnel matter, Greenville County Schools cannot release the teacher’s name or the disciplinary action taken, if the investigation determines that discipline is warranted."
According to the news station, Taraji's parents have not yet decided whether they will send their daughter back to the school. The school district has approved a homebound teacher for Taraji.
Her family has set up a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising money to send Taraji to private school.
“I do not want to get treated like that,” Taraji said. “I’m only 6.”