A blind boy from Kansas City, Missouri, had his cane taken away by school officials, who then replaced it with a pool noodle when he was accused of acting up on the bus.
The family of 8-year-old Dakota Nafzinger is upset that after a bus driver said her son was unruly that his school-issued cane was revoked for two weeks.
“All around, he’s a good little guy, and he shouldn’t be treated the way he’s being treated,” Donald Nafzinger, the boy’s father, said, a local Fox affiliate reported.
The boy’s family says that sometimes he lifts his cane in the air and fidgets around, which may be why he was accused of hitting a child on the bus. They believe that there was a more suitable form of punishment than giving Dakota a pool noodle and charge that the decision by Gracemor Elementary School officials was made with humiliation in mind.
The school would not go on camera with the local Fox affiliate, but said that they took the cane away from Dakota to keep him from hurting himself or someone else.
“Why would you do that? Why would you take the one thing that he’s supposed to use all time to get around? He’s gone through so much in his life already,” said Rachel Nafzinger, the boy’s mother, the station reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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