compiled by Patrick H. Moore
Multiple new services have reported on the weird case of Simone A. Baker, the 24-year-old mother of a Kansas City kindergarten student, who became enraged when she discovered a scratch on her son’s throat, which she believed was the result of corporal punishment on the part of the teacher. According to police reports, on Thursday, Sept 5, Baker pulled the 49-year-old teacher out of her chair by the hair, repeatedly punched her in the face and slammed her head against a file cabinet. The incident occurred at approximately 6 p.m. at Truman Elementary School in the Hickman Mills School District.
The mother was upset, according to police reports, because her 6-year-old son had come home Thursday with a scratch on his neck that he said came from the teacher, who had disciplined him that day.
The chain of events after Ms. Baker noted the scratch on her son’s neck, was reportedly as follows:
First, Baker called the school, which has an after-school program, and angrily told the principal that she was on her way there. The principal advised her not to come, but Baker said she already was around the corner and would be there in a few minutes. Although the principal intercepted the mother at the front of the school and told her that they would set up a meeting to discuss the incident, Baker was not to be stopped. She bolted down the hallway at a full sprint toward her son’s classroom.
When Baker entered the classroom, her son’s teacher teacher was on the phone talking to another parent. Baker said:
“You better not touch my kid again.”
She then reportedly ran behind the desk where the teacher was seated and hit her five to 10 times in the face while twisting the teacher’s arm to her side. Next, according to the police report, she grabbed the teacher by her hair, pulled her out of her chair and slammed her head against a file cabinet twice before running out of the classroom.
The principal had gathered together other staff members and followed the mother to the classroom. The group apparently got there a bit too late — about 30 seconds after the mother. The assault was already over.
The teacher suffered redness and bruising to her face but does not appear to have been seriously hurt. Police officers went to the mother’s house but could not find her. She has been issued her a city ticket for assault with a court date of Oct. 22.
District spokeswoman Ebony Walker said the district intends to prosecute the case to “the fullest extent of the law.”
“The district cares deeply about the safety of faculty and staff and is prepared to pursue all legal avenues,” said Walker, the district’s director of media relations and community affairs.
Walker added that Baker’s contention that the teacher scratched her son is under investigation by the district.
According to Ann Jarrett, teaching and learning director for the Missouri NEA, physical assaults on teachers by parents are unusual. Much more common, of course, are verbal attacks.
Local NBC affiliate KSHB interviewed a couple of moms on the street to get a bead on neighborhood opinion.
“If you’re not going to stand up for your child, who is?” asked one mom wearing a skull-design t-shirt.
Another mom in a Chiefs jersey disagreed.
“No words. Who does that?” she asked. “I mean, I love my kids to death but you got to take yourself out of the situation and act like an adult.”
On Friday, the kindergarten student’s father took his son to school, and — according to a district official — the boy told administrators and police that the teacher hadn’t hurt him.
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I clearly remember talking with my grown-up son’s elementary school principal about corporal punishment several decades ago. He looked at me in astonishment when he realized I was against it. Of course, standards change over the course of time.
With respect to Simone Baker, her dramatic over-reaction — upon discovering the scratch on her son’s throat — suggests that she may well be an abuse victim herself, whether by parents, relatives, teachers or the community. An anger management issue of this magnitude points toward deep inner unrest which clearly needs some form of treatment. I do feel bad for her; she is now in fairly serious trouble and has accomplished nothing other than getting her name in the papers and in cyber-space.
As for the victim teacher, I have no opinion as to whether she scratched the boy. Children are not the most reliable witnesses in emotionally charged situations and there may well be no other witnesses to the alleged incident with the exception of other kindergarten children.