Photo: Twitter
The children were traumatized.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Oct 10, 2022
Four daycare workers in Mississippi have been fired after a viral video shows them scaring "bad" toddlers with Halloween masks.
The video, which has been widely shared, features footage from two separate incidents, one from September 2022, and another more recent one that occurred on October 4, 2022.
The video shows daycare workers deliberately scaring kids with Halloween masks.
In the videos, taken at Lil' Blessings Child Care & Learning Center in Hamilton, Mississippi, the workers can be seen wearing a ghost face Halloween mask while screaming in the children's faces.
At one point, an unmasked woman is seen giving directions about which children acted good and bad, pointing out the "bad" ones so they can get scared by the employee wearing the mask.
After the woman says a sitting child has been “bad,” the masked employee jumps close to his face, screams, and asks, “do I need to take you outside?”
The owner of the daycare, Sheila Sanders, said that she was unaware of the videos, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Sanders told WTVA that one video was filmed in September while the other was filmed more recently, though she wasn't made aware of the video that had taken place in September.
She added that the behavior exhibited by the former employees isn't tolerated at her daycare.
“I contacted my licensure, and she has gotten involved,” Sanders said. “The people that did those acts are no longer with us."
"They were fired. I wasn’t here at the time and wasn’t aware they were doing that. I don’t condone that and never have. I just want to say it’s been taken care of.”
Parents of children who were seen in the disturbing videos reacted to the news, expressing support for the daycare and Sanders.
“I know 100% that Ms. Sheila, the owner, and director, was not aware of this situation that was going on and as soon as she found out, all parties were terminated immediately,” said Kimberly Smith, a parent of one of the children seen in the videos.
"Was the situation that did happen horrible? Absolutely. But should this daycare be shut down and others be villainized that are still here, absolutely not.”
Keegan Hays, whose daughter was also in the video, condemned the workers who traumatized his child.
"I can't stop thinking about what these so-called teachers have done to my baby girl," Hays wrote on Facebook. "Bad thing is, they showed no emotion and thought it was funny until they realized how [angry] I was."
Hays' wife, Alissa Rea Hays, echoed that same sentiment in a Facebook post of her own, writing that she "is heartbroken" over the incident.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.