A Hartford mother, Vanessa Melendez, called the Courant this week because she was concerned about an incident in which she says her 14-year-old son, Victor Sanjurjo, was slapped by a security guard Monday at M.L. King School. The following is what she described to reporter Hilda Muñoz.
Victor’s bruised face after alleged encounter with school security guard on Monday. Photo courtesy of Vanessa Melendez.
Melendez concedes that her son, a special education student with ADHD, was not listening in class that day, so the teacher asked him to leave the classroom. Victor resisted and a school security guard came in to escort him out. When Victor continued to resist, the guard pressed Victor against a wall. A second security guard then tackled Victor and allegedly slapped him after the boy talked back, according to the family’s account.
“All I can say is that the matter is under investigation,” schools spokesman David Medina said in an email today. The security guard accused of slapping Victor is not on administrative leave, he said.
UPDATED at 3:23 p.m.: Medina just said that the security guard has now been put on paid leave.
Melendez told Muñoz that no one from the school called her about the incident — instead, she found out when Victor came home with one side of his face bruised. She called the cops and they told her it was a school matter, so she then spoke with a school ombudsman and one of the school system’s labor relations employees.
Melendez says she was told they would investigate and speak with the school’s head of security. But she wondered whether further action would be taken.
The mother was the first to admit that Victor was talking back to the adults and not listening in class — but that shouldn’t lead to her son being “assaulted,” she argues.
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14 Responses to Did School Security Guard Rough Up Student At M.L. King?
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I truly believe that this should not have happend I think they took this over bored and then not to call the mother why because they them self knew that they were in the wrong I mean evey other time they call home to the mom to give a complain but that day imperticular no phone calls were made I would question that myself… I think that if a kid is out of line or out of control he/she need to have consequences but not security guards beating on someone’s child , the school knows of him having ADHD why not figure something out other then abuseing on the kid !!!! Just imagine sending your kid to school and coming back with his/her face bruised because the system,the people you trust with your kids are the ones you have to be worried about & if this was her beating on her child they would automatically call DCF on her I think they should really look in to firing that security guard on the spot.
Esta situacion es una gravedad y una gran falta de abuso departe del oficial. Me pregunto yo que pasaria si la madre hubiera sido la agresora?; de inmediato seria reportada al DCF. Esto es una brutalidad y gente como estos oficiales no deberian de trabajar en las escuelas. No solo se necesita la capacidad fisica, si no tambien mental y emocional para obtener una posicion como la del oficial. Todo el personal que trabaja en la escuela deben de tener la capacidad y preparacion para tratar con los ninos; esto es desde el principal hasta el que limpia. Bestias como estas los deben de despedir y no darles trabajo en las escuelas con los ninos. Nuestro mayor proposito es de que nuestros ninos esten seguros en las escuelas.
What we know for sure is this young man was disruptive, that when the teacher asked him to leave the classroom he refused and that his behavior was such that the teacher thought it was necessary to call security. When the guard shows up, the behavior and resistance escalated and a second guard surfaced. I was not there and I do not have the guard’s side of the story so I cannot say if the guards were unnecessarily rough or if they met force with equal force. However, there is another big issue at hand besides the guards.
At 14 years old Victor cannot control himself, he does not respect or obey authority, and he shows little to no regard for his peers, (he was robbing them of instructional time). So is Victor receiving all the help he needs in a regular classroom setting? Would he be better served with a special placement? What influence does Victor have on his classmates? Is the teacher ill prepared to handle students like Victor?
If this is a case of excessive force, the guard should be fired –abuse of power should never be tolerated. But aside from what the guard did not did not do Victor has a problem and without help he will only get worse.
THE KIDS AND PARENTS SHOULD REPORT EVERY ABUSE THAT HAPPENS IN THE SCHOOL BECAUSE THE KIDS GO TO SCHOOL TO LEARN NOT TO GET ABUSE SPECIALY BY AN ADULT.I HOPE THEY CAN HELP THIS FAMILY.
Well I think this mother have to get to the last consequences for the reason that she had race her son with a lot of love n discipline n I know this boy n hes family n I dont think that he did something so bad for this get to this point because victor is not aggressive n he is a lovely n frendly boy n for what I read they threat me like a prisoner when hes just a student n second if u work in a school u have to have patience n love for what u are doing n when we live are kids at school is because we trust the teachers n the school because school is r kids second home. Now how parent are going to feel comfortable taking kids to school when not even a moth a teenager came jnside a elementry scho n kill 20 kids n now this …where we going to end…
no puedo creer lo que susedio en la escuela M.L KING, esto es muy cruel,no se debe diciplinar a un joven en la escuela con gorpes,me pregunto donde estava la maestra,la prinsipal,la enfermera si estas personas vieron lo susedido y pensaron que estaba bien que lo golpiaran… y por que el nino llego a la casa sin la atencion de la enfermera,pensaria la enfermera que no merecia su atencion…En que mundo estamos viviendo, nos estamos dejado llevar por el mal que nos desanima cada dia en no querer hacer la diferencia,Tenemos que oral mas antes de salir de nuestros hogares,cubril nuestros hijos nuestros hogares,trabajos oral unos por otros,cubrirnos en oracion para que DIOS nos ayude hacer el bien.DIOS tenga misericordia de nosotros y nos ayude a proteger no solo a nuestros hijos si no tambien a sus hijos.
Queremos justica hay muchos maltratos en las escuelas de hartford.. si una madre envia a su hijo a escuela con la cara marcada inmediatamente la escuela llama a servicios sociales y te remueven al ni~o de la casa, por que los maestros no denunciaron este acto? pues los padre tienen derechos de denunciar a la escuelas y a los oficiales de seguridad, estos casos se dan muchos pero hay padres q no hacen nada por sus hijos y todo se queda igual.
BUENOS DIAS VERDADERAMENTE LOQ ESTA PASANDO CON ESTE NI~O NO ES JUEGO COMO NOSOTROS LOS PADRES VAMOS A PERMITIR ESTOS ABUSOS Q PASAN EN ALGUNAS ESCUELAS DE PARTE DE PROFESORES O CUALQUIER ENPLEADOR HASTA CON LOS BULLYS EN LAS ESCUELAS HAYQ PARAR LOS MALTRATOS Q TIENEN COMO VAMOS A PERMITIR Q VENGA UN GUARDIA DE SEGURIDADA A BOFETIAR EN LA CARA Y TIRARLO AL PISO A UN NI~O Q NO TIENE LAS MISMAS FUERZAS Q UN HOMBRE MI PREGUNTA ES A EL LE GUSTARIA Q LE MALTRATEN A UN HIJO NI A EL NI A CUALQUIER PADRE LE VA A GUSTAR GRACIAS UNAMOS COMO PADRES Y REPORTEN ESOS ABUSOS INFANTILES EN LAS ESCUELAS DE NUESTROS HIJOS!
I can not beleive that after what we have experienced in Newtown CT. that situations like this are taking place. The security guard should have taken a step back and contacted the mother. It is situations like this that make kids grow up with resentment, We as adults are supposed to help them become better poeple, but instead this school official took matters in his own hands and harmed the kid. Where was the training and education here? Where was the respect and protection for the kid? “I thought that we were trying to make our schools safer.”
I’m very familiar with this school, and unfortunately I have to say that it is the teachers and staff that are suffering the abuse. Not the children. Most of the teachers and staff – including the security personnel – are doing as much as possible to maintain control of a school full of students that are difficult to control. I hear horror stories daily of students assaulting teachers, and parents unwilling or incapable of contributing to the education and discipline of their children. The expression I’m familiar with concerning today’s parents is “Not my child . . .” and “My child would never do such a thing.” Please try to gather as much information on this particular case as possible before calling this incident “abuse”. If two security guards were called in to deal with a particular student there must have been much more going on than escorting an unruly student out of the classroom.
If the teacher are abused who complain of abuse “and if the teacher does not have the ability to raise a child in school with different disabilities to give up their work. whether the security guard does not have the ability to restrigir child who does not work for the school, I have understood that the king ml restrigir not permit any child and less in the way they do, there are many who remain silent father but I Vanessa Victor Mother and I will not stay silent if are aware of what is happening in the school will know that I am always willing to help my son and every time I call q talk to my son but I do not justify the behavior hai many way to treat a child. And good q your child would not do something so life takes many turns and hits you where it hurts. Merry Night
To Uncle Howle. I might agree with you a little but this is not a proper way to handle any situation and never say ” my child would never do this” kids are full of surpries. Thanks God that this was not your child.
I posted a similar comment on the courant article that was deleted by the courant—I do not know why. I worked at MLK school and I saw abuse on students. The entire atmosphere of the school is supportive of abuse. Many inner-city children already face physical punishment from their parents and don’t even realize that the school staff are not aloud to touch them. I absolutely believe that a staff put is hands on this student, I have seen students grabbed by their necks and arms and forced to move, hollered at, insulted, and verbally and physically harassed, all at this particular school. The other staff turns a blind eye, simply because some of the abusers have been working there for many many years, others because they simply don’t care, or like myself who didn’t really know what to do and did not want to risk loosing my own job for fear of retaliation. ALL Hartford public schools need serious help and I am amazed that no one other than Hartford really seems to realize this. Students are drilled for standardized testing and literally don’t learn a single thing other than what is required of the standardized tests. HPS needs drastic overhaul, I would be willing to bet large sums of money that this exact thing has and does happen in ALL Hartford public schools on at least a weekly, if not daily basis.
Espero seaga justicia y que page como se merece ese abusador.