Love note lands Tampa 9-year-old in trouble

Author: wink news
Published:

TAMPA, Fla.- A Tampa mother is furious, saying school administrators threatened to file sexual harassment charges against her 9-year-old son after he gave a handwritten note to his crush.

“He’s nine. What little kid doesn’t write love notes?”

The mom, who preferred not to be identified, says her son passed a sweet note to his crush.

“How she wears the same uniform and how her eyes sparkled like diamonds.”

But soon, she says other students started teasing her son about wanting to see the little girl naked.

“That’s when the principal proceeded to tell me that it wasn’t appropriate that he was writing the note, and that if he writes another note, they are going to file sexual harassment charges on my 9-year-old.”

Hillsborough County School District says the boy wrote more than one note, and that they were unwanted, so that borders on harassment.

“It may be something he thought was very sweet and innocent,” said psychologist Dr. Valerie McClain, saying she doesn’t think it’s sexual harassment.

She encourages talking to your child about boundaries, what is appropriate, and what isn’t.

“What needs to happen is education needs to be provided about how to relate to this young girl or how to stay away from talking to her if that’s the goal,” said McClain.

In the meantime, Hillsborough schools say teachers discourage kids from passing notes, because it can cause classroom disruptions.

“My 9-year-old doesn’t even know what sexual harassment means,” says the mom, who maintains her son did nothing wrong.

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