My 8yo daughter witnessed her camp counselor steal from a vending machine and turned him in. Later in the day he retaliated by repeatedly pushing her head under water in the pool, in spite of her protests. She said she couldn't breathe and he said he knew that. When she tried to swim away he pulled her legs dragging her under water again. When she eventually did get away, nobody (except one counselor) took it very seriously and it was completely downplayed. She was very upset. Today I went to the man in charge of the whole town camp system who also did not seem to recognize the severity of the incident and could not ensure me that he would not be rehired as a camp counselor. I don't think the counselor should work with children and am frustrated at the lack of response. My daughter never even got an apology. Also this past weekend while at a pool party she totally freaked out when a child pushed on her head and was once again crying. She told me she didn't want that to happen to her again. I don't want to drop this as I fell he should NOT be rehired and the town obviously doesn't seem to care much. What can I do?
No I haven't as I was trying not to make a huge deal out of it...but the lack of concern and response makes me think they will not properly handle things unless I push it harder. I'm not sure if it would be appropriate for me to file a report with the police. I don't know whether I'm being a protective mother and that is why I'm outraged...their lack of reaction is making me feel like I'm overreacting...but this is serious to me as it could have easily had even worse consequences, resulting in permanent injury etc. They also did not contact me when it occurred and kept telling her she was okay when I came at the end of the day to pick her up, rather than asking her if she was okay. They totally took her voice away. I can imagine how she felt based on how helpless I feel as an adult! I think they might be underreacting in order to cover their butts and hope that I drop it and go away. The fact that they would consider hiring him back blows my mind. How stupid to take on such a liability! I was hoping to gently threaten some type of legal recourse (which I would prefer not to have to do) in order to inspire them to take some type of action...but didn't know what type of action on my part would be appropriate.
