Amsterdam daycare supervisor showed children horror films, mocked them for being scared
A substitute from a childcare organization forced children from primary school De Kleine Reus in Amsterdam Centrum to watch horror movies and then made fun of them for being scared, Het Parool reports based on a letter sent to parents and after speaking with the school and childcare organization. The police are investigating whether a criminal offense was committed.
According to Parool, the man showed at least two classes of 40 kids between the ages of 7 and 9 movies with an age rating of 16 plus during their lunchtime. One class had to watch The Exorcist, and the other watched District 9.
The man refused to turn the movies off, even after crying children asked him to. Instead, he humiliated the kids who cried. Some children went to hide in the corridor, one parent told Parool.
The substitute in question worked for De Kleine Wereld, a childcare organization the primary school hired to watch kids during their lunch breaks. Children eat lunch in their classroom under a minder's supervision and can then play outside. The minders often show videos in the class, usually something educational.
According to Parool, this man had The Pink Panther ready to switch to in case another adult walked into the room. He also told the children not to tell that they had been watching scary movies. “So he knew very well what he was doing,” the director of the school said in a letter to parents.
De Kleine Reus started investigating the man after a complaint from a parent on November 17. It immediately became clear that several children had told their parents that they had to watch a scary movie. “Where it appeared to be an incident, it turned out to be of a larger scale,” the school director wrote to parents. Parents reported that their kids were suddenly afraid to go to bed, had nightmares, or even started wetting the bed.
“Both De Kleine Wereld and we are extremely shocked,” the school director said in a letter to parents. The childcare organization dismissed the man on November 28, and the school informed the police.
The police are investigating. “It is a sensitive matter, especially since the victims are minors and must be protected,” a police spokesperson told the newspaper.
