Mom goes after ‘fight club’ day care

A Missouri mom claims her 4-year-old son was a victim of a “fight club” held at a St. Louis day care center — and that little has been done over the past two years to hold the teachers accountable.

Nicole Merseal shared shocking footage of brawls that she said involved her young son and claimed that teachers Mickala Guliford and Tena Dailey egged on the fights at Adventure Learning Center. She sued the facility in December 2016.

Guliford admitted to allowing the fighting, but said she merely meant it to be a “stress release exercise.”

Merseal said her 10-year-old son, who was with his older classmates in another room, filmed the incident through a window on his iPad after he saw his brother crying. He then texted his mother the video. Teachers were accused of forcing the younger boy to participate in three fights, Q13 Fox reported.

The newly released footage shows a teacher giving each child “hulk hands” before watching them wrestle one another to the floor. Merseal’s younger son wipes his tears away on the sidelines.

“My son was very afraid,” Merseal told ABC News.

“He didn’t understand why his best friends beat him up. These are children that he’s been around for a couple years. He described them as his best friends. He just doesn’t understand why they punched him in the face … I don’t know any parent that could watch their children go through this and not be upset.”

The fight occurred two years ago, but Merseal doesn’t think the teachers were held accountable enough for their actions. The teachers were fired but neither of them faced charges.

“I want them to be held accountable and I don’t want this to happen to any other child,” Merseal said.

Merseal also is seeking $25,000 in damages from the pre-school.

Inspectors visited the pre-school eight times since the incident and accounted for 26 violations.

One of those occurred in March 2018, when an inspector noticed a caregiver drag a 3-year-old by the arm. The pre-school director reportedly was in the room and did not respond.

via:  https://nypost.com/2018/10/31/mom-goes-after-fight-club-day-care/