Mother accuses preschool of forcing son to lick hot water

A parent surnamed Wang said Tuesday that she has pulled her 5-year-old son out of a kindergarten in Changping district after alleging he was forced to lick hot water off a table by his teacher on Sunday.

Yujia Bilingual Art Kindergarten, a private boarding kindergarten in Changping district, denied her accusations.

Wang, who works at a bank, said that she has moved her son's belongings out Tuesday and will enroll him elsewhere.

"My son told me Monday that another child knocked over a bottle with hot water in it on a classroom table Sunday, and a tutor asked him to clean it up with his tongue as they thought he had done it," Wang said.

Wang said that she was furious, alleging that her son had been a target of bullying by the school several times since he started there early last year.

"Last December, a tutor asked other children to hit my son," she said, adding she ignored it for fear her son may be on the receiving end of more bad treatment.

Wang He, who works at the kindergarten, denied the accusations of bullying.

"The tutor has apologized for not looking after the children closely, which resulted in the bottle being knocked over," he said.

"But the tutor never asked him to clean it with his tongue but with towels," he said, adding that Wang has asked for 5,000 yuan ($802) in compensation, a demand the school has rejected.

Meanwhile, Wang He claimed the boy is a naughty child that bullies others.

"Frankly, we couldn't handle him and just expect him not to be here," he said.

The mother admitted her son could be a handful.

"My son is naughty and fights with other children sometimes but he did not deserve this treatment," she said.

A staff member, surnamed Fan, from the Changping District Commission of Education said that they have launched an investigation over this case, the first time they have heard of such a conflict.

"We'll release the result later," he said.