A local daycare teacher is fired after a Sanibel mom tells us the woman wrote on her 1-year-old son with a magic marker.
The statement reads " Mom I’m out of diapers please ready my report".
The mother, Heather Chisum said when she saw the message written on her son, she felt like it was a very personal violation.
"I was mainly upset it was written so far down his torso that his diaper comes above it, so that's upsetting to me that he was naked when he was written on, " said Chisum.
Fox 4 spoke to a Florida Gulf Coast University counseling professor, Yaro Garcia, about the longterm impacts of something like this.
"The child's rights physically are being violated, the child emotionally is being humiliated," said Garcia.
Some say a child this young won't remember something like this, but the professor says very young children, even if they're non-verbal, can sense when things are not right.
"Babies as young as one-day-old even in the womb are able to pick up and understand human interaction," said Yaro Garcia.
She says children in situations like these can end up feeling powerless because they're too young to have a say in what's happening.
"The child is not physically capable of defending himself or to protect themselves verbally…they are not able to advocate for themselves," said Garcia.
Though the daycare has since fired the employee who wrote on the boy, some local parents say they wouldn't stop there.
"I would be heated, there would probably be lawsuits. I’d have to get my lawyer on the phone. I would have so many questions," said Ronald Reagan.
He says if the boy's mom didn't send him to the center with enough diapers, the center should've stepped up.
"They should provide for him, they have enough budget for this and if they don't then other people can contribute but you don't put a marker on an infant, " said Reagan
If your child experiences an abnormal incident at daycare, you can contact your child's caregiver directly.
If you suspect it's more serious, you can call your local authorities.
