"The children are afraid of the Mitzvah Ovada" • Suspicion of violence in a kindergarten for children with special needs in Haifa

(haipo) - Parents of children with special needs in compulsory kindergarten in Haifa sent a sharp letter to the municipality of Haifa, in which they claim that some of the kindergarten staff use violence against their children. In their letter, the parents express deep concern in light of the fact that the kindergarten workers accompany their children for many hours during the day. The parents detail a number of cases of physical and verbal violence by the women of the staff, as well as a case where a child was forgotten in the kindergarten yard at the end of the school day, despite the limited number of children and the lack of staff presence at the end of the day. At the end of the letter, the parents demand the removal of the facts involved, the opening of an investigation on the subject and regular updates on any steps taken.

The parents emphasize in their letter that they will not allow their children to be in the kindergarten during the hours when the workers are there. In addition, the parents announced that today - Thursday, 12/12/2024 - they intend to appeal to the Haifa Municipality demanding answers to the situation.

The children are afraid of the staff

In their letter, the parents reported that children in the kindergarten complained about offensive behavior on the part of the kindergarten teacher, which included offensive verbal statements. "Many complaints were received about offensive words and verbal violence," it said. In addition, the parents indicate in the letter two serious cases of physical violence. In the first case, one of the children claimed that he was slapped by the kindergarten teacher. After checking with other children and their parents, it turned out that the incident did happen and the children witnessed it. In the second case, another child said that the kindergarten teacher pushed him. An inquiry made with other children confirmed these things.

"We recently learned from the children that one of the workers slapped one of them," says one of the parents, "and she pushed my child to the floor. Another child she forgot outside, in the yard. She entered the kindergarten with the other children, and according to the child, even when he knocked on the kindergarten door , they did not open to him. I am shocked by these things, especially when it comes to children with special needs, who are the weakest population, so to add and hurt them... it hurts Very much. The children also complained about being punished when they were put in a corner."

You see severe regression in the children

According to the parent, the parents noticed a very severe regression in the children, and in the conversation between the parents it became clear that this was not a case of one child. "We started to see a big regression at home and behaviors we didn't recognize. My son didn't want to go to kindergarten, there was violence at home and swearing. When the cases of violence in the kindergarten started to surface, we checked with all the children and it turned out that the children in the kindergarten were witnesses and saw the things.

We are also bothered by the fact that when we come to pick up the children at the end of the day, we are not allowed to enter the kindergarten. The child is taken outside to us, without any explanation or report of what happened to him during the day. They are brought out to us and then the door closes. We turned to the municipality to get help, because we cannot continue to send the children to kindergarten as long as these workers continue to work there. At the moment, despite our complaints, they continue to work as usual. Today, Thursday, 12/12/2024, we do not leave the children in kindergarten during the hours of these facts and we will go to the municipality to demand answers."

In their letter, the parents detail another long tract of alleged abuse, which includes, in addition to the physical violence, also shouting, offensive language and punishments such as isolation and exclusion from the community. According to the parents, such an attitude is unacceptable to them and is not suitable for special education (or any kind of education) and causes serious harm to the children, who are afraid of the staff.

The Ministry of Education confirms that they received the parents' request and note that the issue is being handled by the supervision and disciplinary division of the office. The ministry also stated that an update will be provided at the end of the inspection.
The office wishes to state in the background of the case:
- This is about the number of co-parents before her, and the others hold otherwise.
- At the moment the kindergarten teacher does not come to the educational institution.

The Haifa Municipality gave a response Because all the kindergarten parents were in a meeting today at the Kindergarten director's office and things were handled to the satisfaction of the parties.