WASHINGTON (DC News Now) – A mother in the District is speaking out after she says her son’s substitute teacher posted a video of him online with a disturbing caption.
Briana Graham’s 5-year-old son, who is autistic and nonverbal, is a student at Bridges Public Charter School in Northeast D.C.
She said this week school officials shared a printed-out screenshot of a video with her.
“My son was on the ground with an emoji on his face. The caption reads, ‘I wanna sock this little n-word to sleep,’” Graham shared in an interview with DC News Now on Friday.
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Graham said she was disheartened by what she saw and by the school system’s handling of the situation. She said it took days for her to get a real response from the school. Emails sent to Graham, and shared with DC News Now, say the substitute no longer works for Bridges.
She still hasn’t seen the full video.
“I was terrified when I saw that. I know I’m only being provided a piece of it. That means it’s much worse,” Graham said.
She added that her son hasn’t been acting like himself recently.
“For the last month and a half, he has been expressing behaviors to me, behaviors leading me to believe my son has been continuously neglected and abused at Bridges Public Charter School,” said Graham.
As for what comes next, Graham is seeking out legal options and has filed a report with D.C. Police. For now, she is keeping her son enrolled at Bridges.
“As much as I would love to up and run, I don’t want to keep going through this at other schools. I think this stops now and it’s my duty to see it through,” said Graham.
DC News Now made attempts to reach the former substitute teacher and Bridges Public Charter School for comment. There was no response as of the time of publication.
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