Dakota Nafzinger, who was born without eyes, was reportedly given a pool noodle to hold instead of his cane (Fox4KC.com)
A Kansas City school took away the cane of a blind 8-year-old boy Monday and replaced it with a pool noodle as punishment for hitting a classmate, Fox4KC.com reported.
Dakota Nafzinger, who was born with bilateral anopthalmia, which left him without eyes, had the cane confiscated after a bus driver claimed he hit another student with one the school had furnished, according to the channel. In its place, the Gracemor Elementary School student was given the bent, green pool noodle because, according to a North Kansas City School District spokeswoman, he fidgets and needs something to hold.
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"They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks," Dakota said.
The boy's father, Donald Nafzinger, said his son lifts the cane at times, but the bus driver thought he was using it to be violent. Nafzinger believes the school is using the pool toy to humiliate his son.
His mother, Rachel, said it is unfair that his punishment involves something that he needs to get around. The report pointed out that he attended his sister's concert with the noodle.
"It's a lot harder with this," the boy told the station. "Can't feel things."
Some people who saw the news broadcast offered to buy the boy a white cane of his own.
The school district said Wednesday in a statement that it reviewed the situation and regrets that "a mistake was made in making sure the student was in possession of his cane when he boarded the bus Monday evening."
The district said it apologized to the family and is working to rectify the situation.
"When we were made aware of the mistake, corrections were made," the statement said.
Fox News' Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report
Of course the headline sounds quite damning. But, if he is hitting other children with his cane, then there is an issue there that needs to be addressed. Not sure why his parents can't afford to furnish him with a cane that other people are offering to buy one. Seems like MA or insurance would cover that.
DD had a bus driver confiscate her inhaler and her sweatshirt once when she was 6. Why? Another (much older much bigger) child was trying to steal DD's sweatshirt. The big kid took it and wouldn't give it back. DD got yelled at for getting up out of her seat, tried to tell the bus driver what was happening, bus driver didn't care/listen. So DD got her inhaler and puffed it near the kid to startle him. He dropped the sweatshirt and DD took it back. Big kid went crying to the bus driver. DDwas the only one to get in trouble. Until I called the school. Seems the bus driver never asked DD her side of the story.
What DD did wasn't right, but you don't punish a kid by taking their items (innocuous items). Policy says kick them off the bus. So kick them off the bus already!
Teachers, aides, admins, bus driver, need to spend 5 mins talking to the kids to see why things are happening. Why is this boy hitting people with his cane? Was it am accident? Did the driver hit a bump and it unbalanced him? There are so many things that could contribute to this. Talk to the kid! But no...it's much easier to take his stuff and humiliate him.
He is blind, this could be a violation of his rights. They took a medical device always from him. A device that he needed to use. Even if it wasn't a white cane. And humiliating him by giving him a pool noodle isn't goi g to change his behavior.
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