Elizabeth Davies sprayed kids who smelled of curry
The word is a preschool teacher with more than 20 years experience routinely sprays air freshener on children in her class. She says the children stink and smells of curry. The children in question are considered Asian, but of Indian, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis decent.According to the The Daily Mail, Elizabeth Davies, 48 years old, would humiliate the children of her class as they entered the classrooms each morning. She teaches very young children from the tender age of 3 years old on up. But as they would enter she would accuse them of smelling like curry or onions, something that was unacceptable in her classroom.
“If a child came in smelling of onion or curry she would say, ‘There is a waft coming in from paradise,’” nursery school assistant Jan Islam told the tribunal.“She would spray air freshener almost daily,” Ms Islam said. “If they had broken wind she would stand above them and spray air freshener at them.”
Ms Islam, who spoke to the tribunal, claimed that Ms. Davies only picked on the children that did not speak English as their first language. This represents over 50% of the students in the classroom as most were Bangladeshi. It is important to not that Ms. Davies claims her innocents and did not speak to the tribunal.
Now that the reporting is over, I have a few comments to make on this story. There are just some things that don’t seem right and some things that are just unbelievable that as a parent I wouldn’t be able to accept. Let’s go through my list of feelings as I heard about this story.
#1 Smash Ms Davies - Let me just say that if this were my children that Ms. Davies, if this is even true, were spraying air freshener on each morning there would be a major problem. And let me just tell you that I wouldn’t go to the tribunal for a discussion. I would approach the woman myself and at the very least spray something on her as well. My reasoning would be that her attitude stinks.
#2 Why Teach There? - For the life of me, I don’t understand why a person would teach there for so long if she didn’t like the people or culture that was moving into the city. My guess is that she started teaching there 20 years ago when a different demographic was in the city, but now that there are others moving in she isn’t able to handle the transition well. If this is the case, then it is time for Ms. Davies to pick up a move. These babies don’t deserve this type of treatment.
#3 What Took So Long? – Now, allow me to defend Ms. Davies because all of this doesn’t add up to me. Think about it. If this was her daily routine, then what took Ms. Islam so long to report her behavior. How come on the first day or week or month, she didn’t say something? That stinks to me.
Secondly, the kids may not be able to speak English, but their parents are able to communicate with them in their native tongue. How come none of the children said anything to the parents about Ms. Davies spraying them with something? I know my children tell us what happens the entire day with them at school, so it is a bit difficult for me to believe that no one stepped up and said anything.
But I want to know what do you think about this story. There are several sides to this story and I want to know which one you come down on. Chime in and tell us what you think about Elizabeth Davies sprayed kids who smelled of curry.
