Bad Bosses·
THE SNAKE TOUCH
A first-grade wildlife visit goes wrong when a girl resists touching a snake, triggering a suspension clash between a parent and a school over exposure therapy claims.
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A 6-year-old was told to touch a snake at school, refused twice, and ended up facing a 2-week suspension.
It happened during a wildlife visit in her first-grade class. A wildlife instructor brought in animals, including a snake. The child hated it and said she did not want to touch it. The instructor told her to do it anyway. When she said no again, the teacher also pressed her. According to the mother's post on r/legaladvice, the adults would not move on until the girl touched the snake.
The child broke down crying and ran out into the hallway, where she stayed just outside the classroom door.
Then the school escalated it.
The mother was called in and told by the principal that leaving class without permission was an automatic 2-week suspension. She questioned why her daughter was being punished for refusing to touch an animal she did not want to touch. The school's answer was that they were doing "exposure therapy" and trying to deal with the girl's "irrational fears."
That did not sit right with the mother. In a comment, she wrote, "I don't believe for a second they were actually trying to do exposure therapy. I think they pushed her too hard and then made something up to justify it. It was just supposed to be a fun, educational class visit."
She asked the internet whether the school could do this without her permission, whether a lawyer could help, and whether there were legal remedies.
Advice started rolling in. One person told her to escalate the issue to the state department of education. Another commenter, saying they were a mental health professional, asked whether the school would accept a second opinion. The mother said she did not know. The school, she said, had only told her, "I need proof she's in therapy."
So she went higher.
In the update, the mother said she called and emailed the superintendent. After hearing what happened, the superintendent told her there was no way the girl had been suspended for two weeks. About an hour later, the mother got another call: her daughter could come back to school the next day, but would be placed in a different class.
She also said she received apologies from the district and the principal.