Missing Child-School Negligence?

My son is 6, and was attending an after school self defense class. At the end of the class, the teacher lost my son. When I arrived to pick him up, my son was not there. He was in fact missing. My son was reportedly picked up on a busy intersection about 2 blocks from the school by stranger. THANK GOD this person was a good Samaritan and not a predator. But I was in complete and total agony for the 40 minutes he was missing. During the time leading up to finding him there were several infractions the school had regarding safety and security of the children in that after school program. All of which the principal admitted to. My husband and I cringe at the thought that in spite of everything we have taught our son about strangers, he still got into a car with one. My son gave him directions on how to get to my parents home, but I can't help but feel everything that happened came as a result of the teachers negligence and the schools inability to have good practices. We beat the odds..

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Thank you all for such wonderful well wishes. I really appreciate it. I am so thankful that he is safe, and I realize we were one of the lucky ones. But I am driving myself crazy about the thought of "What If". It's almost more than I can stand. The thought of the teacher not remembering who my son is, sickens me. Teachers and schools must understand that we entrust them to care for our children. They must be a guardian, a care-giver, a protector. His teacher was not any of those things. Teaching is not just a job, it's a responsibility. And he should be held accountable along with the district who hired him. The self-defense class was being offered as an after-school program at his home school. But there were nearly 10 safety and security infractions regarding the process for the after school program, and that scares me. I don't want another family to feel what we did. Those 40 minutes felt like an eternity, and I felt so helpless. It's horrible. Double check your schools security methods, and test them. If you find gaps, demand a change.

Please don't post the name of the school- we have a guideline about defamation. You can pass this information on through private message.

I'm very glad your son is safe. What a scary situation!

So happy that your son is safe. Can you post the name of the self defense school?? I have my 5yr old in one currently.

I would also demand action from the school. If they won't do anything, I would go to the media and talk to anyone and everyone I could. The "what ifs" in your situation are unthinkable and the fact is this could happen again! I am so thankful and I know you are too that a safe person picked up your son. The next child may not be so lucky...you have got to take action and make sure this does not happen. The teacher (school?) was negligent. There's no doubt about it. Contact a lawyer asap. Just my opinion but if it were me I would want to do everything in my power to make sure it doesnt happen to another child at that school.

Hi chelle23,

Try not to blame yourself for your son's decision to get into the car, sometimes even when we do everything right we still don't get the outcome we want. Now is the time to let your son know that what he did was dangerous and that he is very lucky nothing happened.

I would suggest you report the school, and demand the teacher be reprimanded. Thank goodness your son is safe, but there could have been a very different outcome to that situation.

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