4-year-old boy comes home from school with gashes on wrist, mom says 'he was too scared' to say anything
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee mom says her son came home from school with gashes on his wrist -- but not from a playground scuffle. She says it was caused by a teacher's aide at Manitoba School in Milwaukee.
School had only been in session for a week when Justine Gomez's son, 4-year-old Steven Widowski, came home in pain.
"I would ask him what happened and he was too scared -- like he didn't want to tell me," Gomez said.
Gomez said it was not until Sunday the boy finally told her he was scratched by a teacher's aide in 4-K at Manitoba School.
Justine Gomez
"She grabbed his wrist. She grabbed it so tight that she put gashes in his wrist with her fingernails," Gomez said.
Photos show the marks scabbed over on the boy's wrist. Gomez said the teacher's aide was trying to move the boy from one line to another.
"Yeah, that is abuse. If a parent did that to a child and the school saw it, the school would be on top of it," Gomez said.
Milwaukee Public Schools released the following statement on this incident:
"On Sunday, September 15, Manitoba Elementary was contacted by a concerned parent about an injury that occurred to their child on Friday, September 13, during recess.
"MPS takes these matters very seriously and immediately opened an investigation into the situation.
"Because an investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further."
Justine Gomez
Gomez said she was never notified by the school about the injury. She only found out from her son. Gomez also wants the teacher's aide placed on leave during the investigation. She said this is a good lesson for all parents.
"If you feel that your child has been abused a school make sure you take the right steps to get it handled right way," Gomez said.
When FOX6 News spoke with the MPS spokesperson about this incident, he could not says whether the teacher's aide was still at the school during the investigation.