It is 16.15 and the doors of Kindergarten No. 9 located in Darregueyra and Charcas are about to open. Usually at this time the sidewalk was crowded with mothers waiting for their children and cars parked in double row collapsing the Palermitana street. But on Tuesday none of that happened. Only 12 moms and dads waited for the appointed time and the coldness of the atmosphere was striking.
Last week ten complaints splashed this garden, where a teacher and two assistants are accused of sexual abuse that would have occurred in supposedly playful situations such as "The dance", a perverse game in which the teachers sang (one filmed, another made contact with minors and the other harangued), while the children danced and got off, At least, the pants.
Of the 69 students in the three classrooms (3, 4 and 5), today fewer than 15 remain. Most were relocated but about 10 are without vacancies. Of those who are still going, half have no choice because their parents, for work reasons, have nowhere to leave them. "I feel guilty, I leave my daughter distraught, but at work they told me they don't wait for me anymore," says Florencia, a nervous-gripped mother.
Silenzio stampa at the garden gate, the usual space where bustle reigned. "Nobody wants to say anything, or they speak quietly, in secret, there is a lot of pain, a lot of anguish," specifies Grecia, the mother of a girl from room 4, the same room that on April 26 was known, from the sayings of a child, and then confirmed by several classmates, that there were abuses on the part of a teacher and two assistants. "My baby told me they played but she didn't like it and didn't participate."
The parents of the children of the kindergarten lived convulsed days, where abuses by three teachers would have occurred. Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami
Another mother consulted asks this reporter to move away from the door. She doesn't want to be heard. "What my daughter told me is that the teachers were singing and the boys were pulling down their pants. But I don't know if the underpants. It was the boys especially who played. Those who complied gave them as a prize some candy but I do not know what happened to those who refused, "explains another mother who prefers not to give her name.
Clarín wanted to find out at the garden gate what the situation of the director and vice president was, but the assistant who remained airtight at the door did not answer. The query was heard by a handful of parents who, spontaneously, responded: "They threw her out, since this morning she does not come." From the Ministry of Education of Buenos Aires they affirmed that "the possibility of a license is being evaluated."
Mom of a 3-year-old boy, Nancy came out of the garden with a gesture of relief. "Today I brought it after a week, in my work they put the stitches, and the truth is that I was tense all day, because I did not know what I was going to find. I didn't want to leave him, I don't want him to keep coming to this garden but I don't have options that serve me either. They offered me a garden in the Chacarita area and for a work issue it is impossible for me. I talked to my husband and we agreed but against our will."
"The children do not touch each other," say some of the cards held by the parents of the children of Kindergarten No. 9. Photo: Telam
About ten children of the 69 who attended the garden on Darregueyra Street are not going to the garden for one reason or another. "I prefer him to be at home, I'm afraid he will go to that place and in the meantime I'm looking for another institution. My baby is 5 and I leave him alone for a while, actually a neighbor comes to take care of him. He cries because he wants to go to the garden and continue seeing his friends, and that breaks my soul," says a grandmother.
The group of parents of whatsapp of the garden agreed so that everyone explains to their children the reasons for the change of garden or absenteeism. "The garden has building problems, there are wells and broken walls and they have to put it in condition." An effective explanation but that was not enough for children who saw every day that the school did not take risks in its foundations.
Rosa, a mother, can't hide her tears. "I came here to talk to the director and they tell me she's not there. Other parents confirm to me that she was kicked out and there is even talk of a license. I also learned from those who told us the educational authorities of the City government that they will remove everyone: principal, vice, secretary, teachers and even the doorman. They are preparing the new staff who would arrive in two or three weeks."
"I haven't slept for a week, because I don't know if my son suffered any kind of abuse. I ask him and he doesn't answer, he tells me he doesn't want to talk. I don't know if it's because something happened to him in that garden, or because of the change of routine he must have suffered in a week. From going to school walking, three years ago, with the same classmates, to taking a bus, entering through another door and seeing a different lady. It's horrible what parents and children are going through."
Rosa breaks down, saying she lived the worst week of her life. "That this would happen is inconceivable. I know L., that teacher who is over fifty years old and always seemed to me the most unfriendly of all. That doesn't mean anything, but today, in light of the facts, I begin to make my head I grieve for my son, who without explanation had to go through the first great shock of his life. It mortifies me not to know, not to have known what was happening inside that classroom of terror."
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