Day care center staff charged with running fight club

Discussion in 'Pandora's Box' started by garrison68, Sep 2, 2015.

  1. This actually happened, in New Jersey.


    Day care center staff charged with running 'fight club'
    Everett Merrill, (East Brunswick, N.J.) Home News-Tribune
    Sept. 2, 2015
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/...


    CRANFORD, N.J. - Two former employees of a day care center are accused of instigating and encouraging fights among children there last month, even going so far as to describe what the children were doing on a playground as “Fight Club.”

    Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said that Erica Kenny, 22, of Cranford, N.J., and Chanese White, 28, of Roselle. N.J., are charged with fourth-degree child abuse, and Kenny additionally is charged with third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. White and Kenny were charged Friday and Monday, respectively, and are expected to appear in court for first appearances Friday.

    An investigation by the Prosecutor's Office's Special Victims Unit revealed that the defendants instigated fights among children, ages 4 to 6, at the Lightbridge Academy in Cranford on at least one day in mid-August, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Sheets, who is prosecuting the case.


    Kenny is accused of recording video of the fights with her cellphone and sharing the video clips with several friends on social media via the Snapchat app, Sheets said. In the video clips, Kenny can be heard referencing the activity as Fight Club, quoting from the book and movie of the same name in encouraging the children to engage each other physically.

    Park said that approximately 12 boys and girls at the day care center can be seen in the video clips shoving each other to the ground and attempting to strike each other. The children involved in the fights are not believed to have suffered any serious injuries.


    Lighbridge Academy, which operates 19 day care centers in New Jersey, provided the following statement in part Tuesday:
    “Today the Union County Prosecutor's Office informed us that charges have been filed against two former staff members related to their encouragement of children to push and shove each other on the playground on Aug. 13th. As parents and caregivers, we are shocked and saddened by this isolated incident, and we have assisted the Prosecutor's Office from the start of its investigation into this matter.

    “While no children were physically harmed during this incident, we have a zero tolerance policy for anyone who acts in conflict with the core value of Lightbridge Academy - the safety and well-being of children. We terminated the employment of these staff members and have maintained open communication with our parents throughout this process.

    “We sincerely thank our parents and dedicated staff for their support and patience. The actions of these two individuals do not reflect the culture of Lightbridge Academy and what we have stood for more than 18 years. While we will continue to fully support and assist the Prosecutor's Office, we remain focused on the education and well-being of all children in our care.”

    Established in 1997 under the name Rainbow Academy, Lightbridge provides early education and child care to ages 6 weeks through kindergarten, as well as special programming for children up to 10 years old during school holidays, breaks and summer camp.

    Franchised in 2011, Lightbridge has 60 child-care franchises sold or under development in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
    Convictions on third-degree criminal charges can result in sentences of three to five years in state prison. Fourth-degree crimes are punishable by up to 18 months in prison.



     
  2. Damn thats fucked up. I dont get people
     
  3. Damn I live like two towns over. This shits crazy haha.
     
  4. This is from the New York Post.


    Day care workers charged with running toddler ‘Fight Club'
    New York Post
    http://nypost.com/2015/09/01/day-care-workers-had-...


    Two employees of a New Jersey day care center instigated “Fight Club”-style brawls between the toddlers and shared footage of the pint-sized pugilists on Snapchat, prosecutors said Tuesday.
    Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, were criminally charged for allegedly staging tussles between kids ages 4 to 6 at Lightbridge Academy, in Cranford.
    “Approximately a dozen boys and girls at the day care center can be seen in the video clips shoving each other to the ground and attempting to strike each other,” prosecutors said.
    The Aug. 13 footage includes group melees and one-on-one battles, just like grown-ups Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the film about a secret boxing club - which apparently inspired the violence, prosecutors said.
    “In the video clips, Kenny can be heard referencing the activity as ‘Fight Club' - quoting from the book and movie of the same name in encouraging the children to engage each other physically,” according to prosecutors.

    Prosecutors and Lightbridge management insisted that none of the kids was injured in the scraps.
    Day care officials copped to the violence but called it an “isolated incident.”
    “Unfortunately, teachers at times were encouraging children to push and shove each other,” said Jaclyn Falzarano, the center's vice president of operations.
    Kenny, a teacher's aide, and White, a teacher, have both been fired, she added.
    Prosecutors refused to say how they learned of the alleged bouts, but added that they are continuing to investigate if the battles took place on more than one occasion.
    Day care officials tried to make sure parents who were approached by The Post adhered to the first rule of Toddler Fight Club - which is not to talk about Toddler Fight Club.
    Staffers shielded moms and dads from reporters, urging them to keep their mouths shut.
    “It's making me freak out. I am concerned,” one mom with a 3-year-old at the center told The Post. “I'm shocked and disgusted.”
    She said the school sent out an Aug. 17 email that downplayed the incident. The message reads in part that staffers “allowed, and at times, encouraged the children in the Khaki Kangaroo and Brown Bear classrooms to push and shove each other on the playground,” according to NJ.com.
    “I'm angry. They should have revealed everything to the parents,” said the mom, who demanded cameras outside the center to better safeguard kids. There are already cameras inside the center, and parents can tune in to keep an eye on their kids, she noted, but not on the playground where the violence allegedly happened.
    White, of Roselle, and Kenny, of Cranford, were both charged with fourth-degree child abuse.
    Kenny was hit with an additional charge, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said.
    Phone messages left at their family homes were not immediately returned.
    The state's Division of Child Protection and Permanency, which oversees day care centers, did not immediately return calls.
     
  5. I don't get why anyone would even find this remotely entertaining




     
  6. You just had to break the rules.
     
  7. ?


     
  8. Exactly [​IMG]
     
  9. "Exactly" what are you referring to about "breaking the rules"?


     
  10. Precisely.
     
  11. Thanks for trying to fuck up the thread. Now if anybody has anything constructive to add to this topic, please do so.
     
  12. #12 AugustWest, Sep 3, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2015
    sounds like a fun gambling event.


    @garrison..


    he was referring to the fight club movie..



     
  13. Thanks for the explanation. I saw the movie a few years ago, I didn't really like it.
     
  14. Tbh its not the worst thing i have read/seen when it involves kids.
    Still shocking though!

    Wonder how much it is to school your kid@home.

    Seems they give anyone the job of caring for our kids....
     
  15. I think this is more weird than it is shocking. I cannot really imagine why someone would do that. It is just very strange.
     
  16. First rule of fight club man.
     
  17. #17 garrison68, Sep 3, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2015
    If these two women are convicted and jailed, they are going to have problems with their fellow inmates and guards.
     
  18. Psht kids are pussies these days, they needed a fight club...

    Like kids in china be makin nikes and toys and shit, kids over here just lazy and unemployed
     
  19. Kids in China make like $0.15 a day and live on-site, working 14+ hours a day. I wouldn't say that's a model we should be copying.
     
  20. LOL :lol::D:lol::D:lol:

    -Yuri
     

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