A two-year-old girl was taken to the hospital yesterday when her elbow was dislocated in an incident at the Texas A&M University-Commerce Children’s Learning Center (CLC).
The girl was reportedly yanked at the arm by a CLC worker when she refused to get off a bicycle, according to the child’s grandmother, Jodi Calkins. The CLC then waited one hour before reporting the incident to the child’s mother. The girl was released from hospital the same day, and the employee involved then returned to work the next day.
“They waited for an hour before they called her mother, saying her arm was ‘hurting,'” Calkins said. “They were trying to say she pulled away from her. There’s no way a child can do that by pulling away. You should train workers to not pull a child like that.”
Calkins said she, her son-in-law, and the girl’s mother were very upset to discover the worker returned to her post. Now, Calkins said there’s little doubt this matter will be taken to police.
“We were going to stop it there if they didn’t allow the worker back,” she said. “Now, we’re taking it further. We’ve got to report this.”
CLC Director Lisa Rhoades gave no comment on the situation.
Calkins said this was not something she planned to take lightly.
“It’s something that needs to be taken more seriously,” she said. “It’s unbelievable. I’m furious.”
According to their webpage, the CLC “offers parents, who are university students or faculty/staff, the luxury of worry-free, campus child care in a rich learning environment.”
The CLC is licensed by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and is located next to the Children’s Museum off of Highway 24/50.