A Mississippi daycare is facing backlash after a worker was recorded scaring the children while wearing a Halloween mask.
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The incident reportedly occurred at the Lil Blessings Child Care & Learning Center, where four employees took place in the inappropriate prank. After the video went viral on Reddit and Facebook, it was confirmed by Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook that the employees were fired and an investigation is underway.
In the video clip, one of the employees is wearing a yellow shirt with a Halloween mask and starts yelling at children who don’t follow classroom rules, such as cleaning up or following directions. Moments after the scare, several children began crying or running away from the employee wearing the mask. The daycare’s owner, Shelia Sanders, said she wasn’t aware of the situation and immediately fired the employees, as told by Raw Story.
“I contacted my licensure, and she has gotten involved. The people that did those acts are no longer with us. They were fired. I wasn’t here at the time and wasn’t aware they were doing that. I don’t condone that and never have. I just want to say it’s been taken care of.”
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The person who recorded the incident posted on Reddit that the employees have exhibited this behavior before but would only get a warning if the situation didn’t become public.
Ok did some investigating lol and found this from the person who recorded it…day care in Mississippi pic.twitter.com/FrLLlWZoqg
— Tanya Breese (@ThatTanya) October 6, 2022
A woman posted the video on Facebook with the caption, “This has made me S I C K.”
Social media reacted to the disturbing video and said the employees needed to be terminated for intentionally scaring the children.
After the video made its rounds online, many social media users accused the workers of child abuse due to the disturbing nature of the video’s content. Additionally, while the employees may have found the video funny, the scary prank can become a traumatic moment for the four and five-year-old children.
This is child abuse – those poor children!!! Where are their parents???
— That 🇺🇸 Redhead 👩🏻🦰 🇳🇱 💪🏻 (@Cormack77) October 6, 2022
I don’t care if the owner was there or not, apparently they’re not doing due diligence in the people they’re hiring. They should shut down that daycare until a full investigation is done and the parents should sue the daycare owner as well.
— Diane (@SoCalValleyGal) October 6, 2022
The one taking the video did it to make it stop. The owner wouldn’t do anything to she took the video and put it out there
— God Bless America (@lindabphillips) October 6, 2022
I wonder how many kids will be at the day care tomorrow. My kids would never go back. I don’t care if those two were fired.
— Linda56 (@Blueeyedllady) October 7, 2022
This is what serial killers in the making look and act like.
To think those degenerates had care of children is beyond repugnant.
I do hope they are attested and given lengthy custodial sentences. It is senseless cruelty!
— Wrongful conviction (@Wrongfulconvic6) October 6, 2022