This past Monday, when 8-year-old blind student Dakota Nafzinger got off the school bus his mother noticed his cane had been replaced with a pool noodle.
His mother believes it was given to him to humiliate him after he misbehaved. A representative from the North Kansas City School District said that the cane belonged to the district and was given to him at the beginning of the year. They took it from him when he hit another student with it, and was given a pool noodle because he needed something else to fidget with.
Dakota was born without eyes. He said the pool noodle was very hard to use, and his mother said taking the cane away was like taking away his eyes.
“He’s gone through so much in his life already, 8 years, and I just don’t like someone else putting my son in that position,” Dakota’s mother told ABC 7 News.
Two days after the incident the district showed up to the Nafzinger home to apologize and return the cane. They released a statement that read:
“The District has reviewed the situation. We regret 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 has apologized to the family and is working to rectify the situation.”
What are your thoughts? Do you think the school went too far with this punishment?
