Bed Bugs Scar Child for Life!
Hena Daniels from Eyewitness News did a horrible job on segment where a boy who brought bed bugs to school. [wsmv.com/video/17818727/index.html?rss=nash&psp=video]
The school is Washington Elementary and the video shows a resident being interviewed; when the resident was asked if he would allow his children to go to school with bed bugs and why, he said ‘no, it’s pretty obvious’. The reporter then made a statement that ‘Obvious to some, apparently not to others’. One resident said that she would not allow her child to go to school until the areas the child had been in were cleaned.
The video states that Fernando Silva, Vice Principal, sent a letter to all parents which included the statement “… A small health incident today involving bedbugs” and also stated that they “…removed, sanitized, and returned the affected clothing…”.
Did the school handle this properly? If you watch the video, you’ll hear Hena mention that it was a ‘little boy’ who brought in the bed bugs. Did the school release this information?
If the child’s name is known, that child could very well be scarred for life! The fact that gender was released is something many would consider poor judgment!
Children can sometimes be cruel; should any child be associated with having transported the bed bugs, that child may have to endure a traumatic experience that could scar deep enough to last a lifetime!
- Does the school know for a fact that the child brought the bedbugs to class?
- Was the classroom already infested?
- How does the school know that another child didn’t bring the bugs to class with them and they found their way to this child (or his coat, etc)?
People are afraid to talk about having bad bugs because there is such a stigma associated with the whole topic. People see those having bed bugs as being poor and unclean.
Narrowing it down to a classroom, then gender, could cause panic and push others to point the finger, likely at a student that had nothing to do with it.
Personally, I think Hena Daniels did a very poor job at reporting! The video should have taken a spin on how bed beds can find their way into schools rather than how negligent parents can be!
Washington School is located at 685 Baldwin St in Waterbury, CT 06706 and can be reached at (203) 574-8177 waterbury.k12.ct.us/was/ – http://www.badbedbugs.com 10/28/08
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Apparently, none of you have been terrorized by bedbugs. Just having been bitten by a bedbug is traumatizing to a child! Never mind getting bit up all night long, night after night, and not knowing what it is…my family has been through this, and it’s awful…we can’t sleep. You “imagine” bugs biting you, itch constantly. For me, an adult, it’s tramatizing, never mind for a child. How insensitive can you be???
Brian,
It was a story published on the web by the news station, it may have been in your local paper, but they placed it on the web for the world to see.
I watched that video (the link is at the top of the page) and was shocked that the story focused on blaming the parent rather than education.
My point about narrowing it down is that mentioning it’s a boy is yet another way for parents to hypothesize who the child was. Something like this can turn bad if information about who the child was gets out and that child could end up being ridiculed and more.
The story should NOT be about blaming a parent for allowing their child to bring bed bugs to school, but rather educating parents on how to spot and deal with these bugs.
Jim.
Yes Jim, it narrows it down to 200 boys that attend my child’s school. My son certainly didn’t walk away scarred for life,
I would be the first to acknowledge if the story was irresponsible.
The story was not about the spreading and controlling bugs. It was a local story about what happened at my son’s school on a LOCAL television station.
Fair enough Brian,
But if you watch the video that Hena released, she clearly makes it a case of a negligent parent allowing a child to bring bed bugs to school.
She also mentioned that it was a boy which narrows it down that much more.
Rather than put the blame on a parent, it would be better to focus on the spread and control of bedbugs.
Jim.
I would have to disagree with you. My child goes to that school and I think Hena Daniels handled the story very well. The station did not release the name of the child so no one was scarred for life. AS a parent, I didnt walk away with negligent parents doing this to their child. I walked away with what the school did and how to avoid bed bugs in a public setting.