Nathan is a five-year-old boy with autism. He was put on record as a sex offender after hugging his classmate and kissing another on the cheek.
Nathan’s parents were warned he would be placed on a record “for the rest of his life”.
Nathan attends East Ridge Elementary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.A., He was accused of ‘overstepping a boundary’.
Nathan’s Mother, Summery spoke to me and honestly, if you spoke with her too, your hearts would reach out to her. Please share this because although it’s in USA, there are rights and wrongs. This is so wrong. Summery received a call from his teacher at the start of September. She said the teacher told her he had been accused of “sexual activities” for hugging a child and kissing another child on the cheek. Nathan had no idea that he had crossed any kind of ‘boundary’. He doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong.
Nathan has now switched classrooms and teachers, and is enrolled in special education services.
Nathan’s grandmother, Debi, questioned why the school wouldn’t listen to the family or their doctor about the challenges that Nathan is facing.
She said: “It was disclosed that it will go in his record for the rest of his life that he is a sex offender. This child is autistic, he comprehends and functions very different than your typical five-year-old. What do you do?
Who do you turn to for help when the school will not even listen to the child’s doctor when he explains the child’s difficulties in his comprehension of simple things such as boundaries?”
A comment from a friend in Jersey says it exactly how it is. You got it 100% Eddy: “Yes it’s in America but remember, most of the studies etc that our social services use are mirrored from the Americans.
On one hand they wanna teach kids how to touch themselves as young as 6, on the other they’ll remove them or investigate the parents because a kiss on the cheek is over-sexualised behaviour read between the lines people”..
Tim Hensley, spokesman for the Hamilton County Department of Education said schools were “entitled to report any concerns they had regarding a child. School personnel are required to report concerns regarding children to the Department of Child Services. It’s up to Child Services to determine if those reports are acted on by DCS and what form those actions may take.”
Yes, they are, but this is ridiculous. What kind of ‘teacher’ finds a 5 year old child kissing another on the cheek ‘unacceptable?
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THIS IS A WORLD-WIDE PETITION (bottom of post).
Five year old Nathan has Autism and was recently punished by his school for hugging a student and kissing another on the cheek.
Nathan’s mother (Summery Nikki Putnam) said; “He is 5 years old he is still a baby. There is nothing wrong with affection, in his mind it’s okay, he cannot comprehend right from wrong. The school has labelled little Nathan as a sex predator and accused him of sexual harassment”.
They have also warned the family that Nathan would be “placed on a sexual offenders record for the rest of his life”.
Tim Hensley (communication spoke person for the school systems in Hamilton County) gave a statement; “No-one at the school ‘sought’ to label the child as a sexual predator.”
Well, Mr Hensley… Firstly, the ‘child’s’ name is ‘Nathan’, and secondly, maybe the school should have thought about that before they opened their big mouth and started all this !!
Summary has a lawyer and it taking legal action against the school.
LINK TO THE PETITION: (It will take a few minutes of your time):
https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/voices-for-nathan.html…
Carers Want Competence 