Was 9-year-old provoked in alleged daycare attacks? Could it be justified?
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Video of a 9-year-old kicking, biting and hitting toddlers in a daycare center has been circulating widely on Facebook. It looks like the boy in the video looks over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching and then hurts the child.
The daycare worker doesn’t appear to be aware of the strikes and was arrested. Now the grandfather of the boy says he was provoked by one of the children.
“Family members claim a 9-year-old boy shown on surveillance video attacking two children at a Vicksburg day care was provoked by one of the children.
Johnny Taylor, who said he’s the boy’s grandfather, told 16 WAPT’s Tammy Estwick that the 9-year-old was retaliating after he was scratched by an 11-month-old boy.
Surveillance video given to police by the owner of the Kiddie City Child Care Center shows the 9-year-old boy punching and biting the toddler, police said. The same 9-year-old was also captured on video repeatedly kicking the toddler’s 2-year-old sister.”
“Police have since charged a daycare worker in connection with the incident.
“Sandra Trevillion was the one that was in the room most of the time and she obviously did a very poor job, and that’s what brought us to knowing that she needed to be charged for not performing her duties,” said Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong.
Trevillion is charged with two counts of contributing to the neglect of a minor. Her bond was set at $2,656.”
There’s even more craziness that a dad of one of the hurt children showed up and hit the wrong child in retaliation. He was also arrested.
What do you make of the video? What is going on in the little guy’s head? Could it have been provoked? Could it be justified even if provoked? (The daycare definitely shouldn’t have had big kids and little kids together.)
(Try be nice and constructive. It is a child.)
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136 comments Add your comment
The Lord
July 27th, 2012
11:08 am
This child is the next: James Holmes, Jeffrey Dahmer, Una-bomber, Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia tech. This kid is going to grow up doing drugs, killing people, and raping girls/boys.
What a sick child! Lord help him!
yuki
July 27th, 2012
11:27 am
There is no excuse in the world for this. Thank goodness my children don’t have to spend any time in a place like this. They wouldn’t.
LAZY parenting. Yes, blame your kid’s inexcusable actions on an 11 month old baby. Unreal. Watching this makes me sick.
There is no way that boy is not going to end up in jail. Probably sooner than later, with his pants down to his knees barely being able to speak English.
Janet
July 27th, 2012
11:37 am
The video was horrifying. Any nine year old with that much anger is in trouble and will be heard from in the future (arrests for domestic violence, e.g.).
Almost as shocking is the pathetic state of some of the comments. How do these people read a newspaper if they can’t spell, punctuate or express a logical thought? Does Atlanta really have such a widespread literacy problem? The nine year old in the video needs help now, but he’s not the only one.
By the way, the grandfather’s attempt at justification is idiotic and will only add to the kid’s future problems.
Janet
July 27th, 2012
11:57 am
I’m back because my over-developed, parochial school-induced sense of guilt forces me to add that many of the comments were thoughtful (some not so much), well written and articulate. There, I feel much better.
ylojkt
July 27th, 2012
12:00 pm
This is why I had my wife quit work when our second child was born to raise both of my sons. We had already seen enough of day care with my oldest son to know we didn’t want him there. While there were some very caring people there taking care of the kids, they started participating in a govt work program that gave them welfare workers for free. They were not bad people, but not very smart to say the least.
My wife wouldn’t listen to me about not going back to work after her maternity leave, so she went back and dropped both sons at daycare to start work again. On her lunchbreak, she went to the daycare to breastfeed my younger son and saw one of these workers accidentally drop a baby on its head while she was in the room. She called me crying and asked what to do, I said take the boys home and tell your work that you have to raise your kids. My youngest spent 1/2 a day in daycare and we have not regretted the situation ever since. Of course, it hasn’t always been easy raising the kids on one salary, but they have been raised well and are healthy both mentally and physically; I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for that.
my2cents
July 27th, 2012
12:02 pm
In Georgia, daycares are allowed to ‘merge’ age groups in the very 1st hour and the very last hour of the day – excluding babies (under 12 or 18 months, I think). And the staffing per child requirements are dropped a bit as well. There are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ day care centers – the ‘good’ ones try to keep the age groups apart and have workers who know how to control a room full of kids, but that can change overnight.
lmorgan16
July 27th, 2012
12:14 pm
Did the grandfather really open up his mouth to say, his 9 year old grandson was provoked by a 11 month old baby????!!!!! You got to be kidding me! This 9 year old is a MONSTER, he attacked those babies!!! He looked around to make sure no one was looking and timed it and attacked the babies! Then he had the nerve to comfort the baby in the walker. 1st of all he should not have been in the same room with the kids! What he did was WRONG and his family members are WRONG too!! There is NO EXCUSE for what he did! If something is wrong with him mentally then he would have hit the kids when the adults were looking. HE NEEDS HIS BUTT TORE UP! HONESTLY I WANT TO STAND HIM UP AND DROP KICK HIM MYSELF!!!! did you see how hard he punched the defenseless baby and then bit her??? I’ll stop now because I could go on and on about this! Something has to be done about HIM!!!
Shaun
July 27th, 2012
12:31 pm
@Augusta – You ain’t lying when my mother said “Wait until your father gets home” my behind would straighten right up!
Shaun
July 27th, 2012
12:35 pm
The 9 year olds behavior stems from the lack of supervision and attention. I guarantee you that his parents (if together) don’t pay much attention to him, while they’re busy partying and bullsh*ting. I see this with lots of young parents who have kids irresponsibly.
Augusta
July 27th, 2012
12:38 pm
Unfortunately, nothing will be done by this boys family, as they are already making excuses for his behavior, instead of taking responsibility for what he did.
Theresa Walsh Giarrusso
July 27th, 2012
12:50 pm
The little guy doesn’t need to be hit (MORE — I suspect that’s part of the problem) — He needs psychological help. I hope that the state steps in and gets him into therapy. I think he does have anger/emotion control issues. The aunt in the video said he was on medicine everyday. He needs to be seeing a psychologist to help him understand his feeling, regulate his emotions and help him learn right from wrong. He doesn’t need to be hit more!!! This isn’t about lack of discipline. This is mental/emotional issues that needs professional help. We need to pray for him and his family for guidance.
janice
July 27th, 2012
12:58 pm
The 9 year old had no excuse, he needs counseling because this is just the beginning, this behavior will lead to more violence.
Jacksmum
July 27th, 2012
1:23 pm
Clearly in this community there is a culture of violence and disrespect for others. Animal behavior in humans is the crux of our societal woes. This child is not normal, nor are his family members who excuse the behavior, nor is the adult who felt it necessary to assault a child in retaliation for his child. Sadly, I see similar behavior often…this is not a rare occurrence. This is the most disheartening peek into the world around us. God help us all.
Julia
July 27th, 2012
1:23 pm
someone needs to beat the ever loving crap out of him.. there was NO excuse for what he did other than he is the spawn from hell…
PR
July 27th, 2012
1:26 pm
Enter your comments here
concern
July 27th, 2012
1:36 pm
that child need to be put in a group home he knew what he was doing he was smarter enough to see if someone was watching no excuses.
Gwinnett Mom
July 27th, 2012
2:11 pm
I disagre Terhesa. You need 2 things when raising children. Jesus and an good whipping. Thats what the little boy needs. U no his lazy parents R not doing the rite thing 4 him to be that way.
Warrior Woman
July 27th, 2012
2:40 pm
@Voice of Reason – The bully clearly knows right from wrong, since he looks over his shoulder to be sure he isn’t being supervised before attacking the toddlers. Your second option is right – the bully just doesn’t care.
shaggy
July 27th, 2012
2:46 pm
TWG,
It ain’t about just whupping the kid and hoping he gets the message about his behavior. It is ALL about whupping the kid, telling him just WHY he is getting a whupping, and making sure love is shown after the discipline is administered.
No, you can’t as some write here, just beat the tar out of him, because he should know better, because he obviously doesn’t know better…he has not been taught, with firm boundaries applied.
Actually, a better solution to these type situations is to publicly cane the parents/guardian that allows this kid to get so far gone at age 9.
Calliope
July 27th, 2012
3:03 pm
Obviously, this kid has experienced abuse or lives in a home where this happens. I can only hope that he does not have younger sisters and brothers. I noticed that he mimics many moves used by wrestlers, so maybe he has is exposed to violence in addition to possible domestic abuse. I am flabbergasted at the “aunt” who dismisses his behavior… she seems rather ignorant to me, and yes he does fight little babies. This is the type of kid that grows up to be a menace to society if there no intervention, but something tells me his family and parents have the same attitude and ignorance as the Aunt. And yes, your question is stupid… how is it possible that this kid was provoked by anyone???
Lisa
July 27th, 2012
3:09 pm
I guarantee you this is not the first time this young sociopath has committed this type of act. This kid unless he gets some help is a future felon. Wow, I can not believe the caretaker did not wonder why these toddlers were crying. I am shocked that his grandfather is trying to justify his behavior. There is not excuse, period.
Karah
July 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
I believe what that 9 yr old boy did was due to lack of discipline which starts to point the finger in his parents direction. Im not saying what the 9 year old boy did wasn’t his fault but if they had a discipline program to put that age group in they would know its not ok. Why doesn’t the daycare split up the age groups into different classrooms anyways that would cut back on a lot of the problems not to mention its obviously to hard for the X daycare lady to take care of the kids.
Jeff
July 27th, 2012
3:39 pm
TWG, my post got swallowed. In essence I was backing up the Shagman with emphasis on the conversation with the child about why he was getting a ratta tat tat.
Maybe that’ll clear the filter.
Jake
July 27th, 2012
3:42 pm
Wow I really just want to shoot this boy and his dumbass family members… he’s 9 and he doesnt realize that toddlers do things like scratching… they are just babies… if ur that dumb then u shouldnt be on this planet
Leigh
July 27th, 2012
4:43 pm
TWG, I think I am stuck in the filter!
marie daunoy
July 27th, 2012
4:55 pm
HE NEEDS A GOOD OLD FASHION ASS WHOOPING, I’LL BE GLAD TO GIVE IT TO HIM, I DO BELIEVE HE KNEW JUST WHAT HE WAS DOING, WAITN FOR THE LADY TO LOOK AWAY AND HE PUCHES THAT BABY IN THE FACE FIST CLOSED,I HAD A FIT, THAN HE PUT HIS FOOT IN THAT BABIES BACK AND KICKED HER TO THE FLOOR, WHATS WRONG WITH THIS KID, LOOK I HAVE 7 GRAND CHILDREN (6 BOYS) AND A GIRL, AND (1) GREAT GRAND BABY, I’LL BE DAMMMMMM, IF I SAW SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENING THE LAW WOULD BE INVOLVED, AND HE WOULD BE PUNISHED,YES ,HE WILL BE SOME KIND OF KILLER IF HE DOES GET HELP NOW PEOLPLE PLEASE ,HELP THESE DEFENSELESS BABIES,PLEASE. MY HEART HURTS SEEING THIS. PLEASE HELP. UNSET IN NEW ORLEANS MAW MAW AND GREAT GRAND MAW MAW.
catlady
July 27th, 2012
4:57 pm
Here is my VERY experienced take on this: The 9 year old has been raised by being told not to let ANYONE “dis” him. Not to take ANYTHING off anyone. That if someone BOTHERS him, he should “defend’ himself. He has seen the older people in his life practicing this.
I see this (to a much less horrifying degree) quite a bit. I call it the “crack mama” way of parenting. The child lacks the ability(by age, mental ability, or whatever) to distinguish appropriately when someone is intentionally harming him. But he has gotten permission from mama to protect himself, whether it is a baby or an adult, an unintentional grab or scratch from a falling infant, or being “dissed” by being looked at funny. Sometimes the parent(s) even threaten their child to “not be a baby” or they will punish him.
I have had parents who tell me “I told him he didn’t have to put up with other kids bothering him.” Well, did you know Johnny has beaten up a kid because someone told him the kid said something about him? I tell these parents–not in MY room. If he is being bothered, he needs to tell me. I will investigate. Don’t expect me to believe your child’s claim of being bothered if he retaliates before reporting it to me! And don’t expect me to wrap your child in bubble wrap so that no one looks at him funny. People are wierd. Not all of them are fun to be around. But you TELL ME immediately if someone has hit you or threatened you. I point out that if their child retaliates inappropriately, their child can be punished and held accountable. Teach your kids to verbalize!
(And, if I call you in for a conference about your child’s bullying behavior, don’t all of a sudden “remember” that he has been bullied by all these people before he retaliated.)
True story: My younger daughter, age 7, was having trouble with a boy at the afterschool program. He had pulled a chair out from under her, leaving a bruise. I wrote a note to the afterschool supervisor. Then, she came home with a stripe on her leg where he hit her with a stick on the playground. I complained again. The next time he tried to pull her off the moneybars, she got down and yanked his “rat’s tail” out of the back of his head! The principal called and told me she was being excluded from afterschool; I asked her if she was aware of the complaints I had made about James’ bullying. No, she didn’t know there was a history of a problem. She said James’ mom wanted to meet with me, that I needed to pay for his hair being restyled. I told the principal I would not be paying for the hair until she paid for the bruises and abrasions. The mother also wanted us to “get together” to see how we could help the children “get along.” I told the principal that to get along, James needed to stay away from my daughter. You see, she had tried to get the adults help her, but we had failed her. So she took her protection into her own hand. And I told the principal and supervisor that they had failed her as well, and I removed her from the program.
Chris
July 27th, 2012
4:58 pm
Theresa Giarrusso, what is wrong with you? Are you mentally ill or something?
Of course it is not justified for a 9 year old to go around his day care hitting and kicking people just because an 11 month old baby (who doesn’t know any better) scratched him on the arm. Are you kidding me? Please use some common sense before you write your next article.
As far as this 9 year old is concerned I think he should be put away. You can say give him counseling all you want but if he is capable of this kind of violence against innocent babies now then just imagine what horrible things he might do 10 years from now.
marie daunoy
July 27th, 2012
5:04 pm
THE GRAND PAW IS CRAZY TO ,MAYBE THATS WHERE HE GET HIS ACTIONS FROM.IS HE TAKING ANY KIND OF MEDICATION,HE WAS MAD BECAUSE A BABY SCRATCHED HIM, WELL GET OUT OF THERE AREA.YOU SHOULD HAVE YOU ASS IN YOUR OWN CLASS WHERE THE KIDS ARE YOUR AGE, I BET YOU WON’T MESS WITH ANY KID YOUR OWN AGE,I BET YOU WON’T( COWARD.) I;M VERY UNSET WITH THIS WHOLE THING, I FEEL REALLY BAD FOR THAT BABY , HE COULD HAS BROKE HIS R HER JAW HITTING THAT BABY IN THE FACE LIKE THAT, DUMMY, ANGRY IN NEW ORLEANS, MAD MAW MAW
FB Fan
July 27th, 2012
5:26 pm
Judging by the way the 9-year-old kicked, he most likely learned it from WWE or UFC.
ANG
July 27th, 2012
6:00 pm
Why not just go after the boy that messed with him in the first place? Somewhere along the way this behavior has been seen at home, (TV, neighborhood etc). “Im mad at work, so I come home at take it out on others.” “Somebody did me wrong so I kick the dog!” “I can’t have my way, so I beat my woman, my child.” Each time, this lil guy KNEW what he was doing because he sought OPPORTUNITY! Therefore, this is NORMAL! Normal of deviant behavior! Normal of those who need to have mental evaluations in their childhood to see what is going on in the home, at school and in the community. Those toddlers didn’t deserve this. Nor did they deserve the adult who IGNORED what was happening EACH time. His mom may have her hands full but ignorance is not bliss. Its time to address this behavior in a professional manner or society and the law will address it later. My prayers to all the families involved. (Please excuse any typos)
jarvis
July 27th, 2012
6:29 pm
Shaggy, I’d be willing to bet he gets plenty of beating at home. That said, they should continue. He’s an animal and deserves to be treated as such.
Diana hairston
July 27th, 2012
6:54 pm
I don’t what the grandfather thinks provoked this child, this is oh so wrong!!!!!!! If this is all it takes to provokes in that family maybe the 9 yr old and other children should be removed for he learned this behavior from somebody and I’m thinking his Grandparent(who thinks it’s okay cause he was scratched) and/or his parents. ALL INVOLED NEED TO BE UNDER THE JAIL!!!!!!!! THE DAYCARE WORKER SEEMED TO BE AN ACCOMPLICE IN THIS FOR WHEN IT WAS HAPPENING SHE COVENIENTLY WAS LOOKING ELSEWHERE, WAS IT ON PURPOSE? I THINK SO. AND ANYONE THAT THINKS IT’S OKAY NEEDS A MENTAL INSTITUTION……..
Scott
July 27th, 2012
7:40 pm
The child wasn’t unsupervised. Watch his body language. He is watching for the time to strike. The whole time he is aware what he is doing is wrong, and everytime it is when the daycare worker turns her back. When she looks around to see why the baby is crying he acts nonchalant, even pats, and caresses his baby sister. He has seen this behavior before or has been treated in this manner himself. What he is doing, he’s witnessed before.
Some of the posts on this site have such poor grammar and extreme spelling errors, it’s so hard to understand.
Myles J.
July 27th, 2012
8:39 pm
Wow, and blacks complain on how whites are so racist, yet we give them a reason. Look, this 9 year old is another example of us blacks being violent, and heartless beasts. Shame, you’re just making the KKK look like a better option than civil rights. Control your kids!
George T. Swanner
July 27th, 2012
10:19 pm
Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, you are an idiot and need to be institutionalized at the very least, and have your kids taken away from you if you have any.Obviously you don’t have the mental capacity to think clearly or maybe you are on some sort of drugs that impair you ….however I it doesn’t surprise me that you are at this toilet paper, birds of a feather………..
i LOVE...
July 27th, 2012
10:24 pm
Even if this kid has developmental issues, he obviously knows right from wrong…as made evident by the fact that he kept looking to see when the daycare “worker” was not watching him. There are no excuses here. Lock up the parents and out this boy in some intense counseling!
i LOVE...
July 27th, 2012
10:25 pm
*put* not out!
Fred ™
July 27th, 2012
10:43 pm
Wow. That’s a disturbing video.
Fred ™
July 27th, 2012
10:44 pm
George T. Swanner
July 27th, 2012
10:19 pm
Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, you are an idiot and need to be institutionalized at the very least, and have your kids taken away from you if you have any.Obviously you don’t have the mental capacity to think clearly or maybe you are on some sort of drugs that impair you ….however I it doesn’t surprise me that you are at this toilet paper, birds of a feather………..
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Can anyone make sense of this nonsensical post?
rakel
July 27th, 2012
11:19 pm
Be nice? It is a child? That is not a child, that is a future serial killer. I don’t care if a toddler did scratch him, key word, TODDLER. He is NINE YEARS OLD, he knows better! I couldn’t even finish the video it was so disturbing. That “child” needs to be put in boot camp! And if I were his parents I don’t think I could ever look at him again! But that fact that his parents are making excuses for him, just tells you that he learned this violence up from them, and they should be punished too as far as I’m concerned. Sick. They’re all SICK!
yanita
July 27th, 2012
11:44 pm
I work with children and i was devastated when I saw that. daycare workers must know you can not take your eyes off children. it only takes a second you must keep your eyes on children at all times. that hurted me soooooooooooo bad to see what and how he could hurt a child.
Fedup
July 27th, 2012
11:48 pm
@ Myles J, “you’re just making the KKK look like a better option than civil rights”. (Us blacks) if your black & saying the KKK is a better option, you’re part of the greater societal problem & likewise need help. Never thought lyncing, cross burning, envoking terror, & all other forms of cruel punishment was “better”.
Ayo Ada Ogolo
July 28th, 2012
5:28 am
I think something else is going on here,as brutal and callous than the action of this child in fact! Can you imagine if this was going on in every Day Care Centre in the United States, I would want a full investigation in order that are children remain safe and within these centres. What was a 9 year old child doing in a toddler area? What type of training are these employees receiving, why wasn’t this adult much more observant?
I would also ask where did this child pick that kind of violence, is the grandfather actually hiding something as it appears to be that this savage act is something that he has witnessed happening to himself, or other children and very possibly adults. To allege that one of the toddlers had pinched the 9 year old, does not tally with the scope of the violence and brutality that was done to these toddlers. The anger and rage that this 9 year old child has inside seriously needs investigating, and with a good child psychologist that understands behavioural patterns and from a Black perspective. Ask yourself why did he hone in on the little girls ( I have only observed the clip once), I have no wish to see it again only that older children should not be left with small toddlers. What I witnessed is absolutely obscene and really hope that these toddlers do not have any lasting trauma – they too need to be seen by a good psychologist.
Rhetta
July 28th, 2012
7:30 am
Where is this at? In one instance, he’s assaulting the child while an adult is leaning nonchalantly against the wall. Is this a daycare? They should be closed, the boy should immediately get counseling. You are watching a future, woman-beater/rapist and possibly pedophile since his target are younger children and female.
Fear The Past
July 28th, 2012
10:19 am
Today’s society and it’s behavioral system is to be blamed for this type of behavior. Something goes wrong and we caress it and blame it on something else; a mental state. Seriously, are we going to name every single thought process our mind has? As well as give into excuses as to what we need to do to help ‘cure’ these people? Of course there’s the complete mentally unstable, and there’s just the undisciplined. I highly doubt 75% of cases related to abuse, murder or any other kind of violence is actually from someone who has a prolonged mental/behavioral illness, but impulsive actions taken when upset or angered.
RabidWolf
July 28th, 2012
11:02 am
The power has been taken away from the parents. Over the years I’ve seen a steady decline. I also remember the threats of “Wait until your father gets home”, I also remember the sting of a leather belt across my butt when I did something really bad, like break windows. Did I turn into someone who has a violent nature? No. But now, we have so many people threatening to take away your kids for spanking them that it’s impossible to raise them right. Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying “Beat your kid bloody” but I believe that spanking SHOULD still be allowed. As for people playing the race card, no..race is not an issue here. This is neglect, pure and simple. The parents or grandparents of this child simply see nothing wrong. But since his age wont allow him to face criminal charges, I say….put the criminal charges on HIS guardians. I don’t mean the lesser charge, I mean charge them like they were the ones hitting the toddler. Personally if it was my child that was being beaten up like that I don’t think I would have handled it quite as well as the father of one of the kids. When I saw the video, I wanted to grab the child by the ankles and swing him into the post. (I wouldn’t actually do something so violent to a child)
Mrs Time
July 28th, 2012
12:37 pm
SERIOUSLY? I cannot even believe that question would even be asked. What is this country becoming?
LeeH1
July 28th, 2012
1:05 pm
Looks like the 9 year old is a victim of child abuse himself. Have his parentsand other family been investigated to see how he learned this kind of agressive and dominating behavior?
Chassity
July 28th, 2012
1:08 pm
The dumb kid should not have been in the same room as toddlers in the first place. The daycare worker should be put under the jail. I feel sorry for the kids who were in her care. So sad. Furthermore, if that were my nine year old he would be get it. His home has got to be a mess. The nine year old must come from a sick family.