By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Senior National
Correspondent
A disturbing incident at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School in Charles County, Maryland, has sparked community outrage and conflicting accounts. Initially described as horseplay, the situation involved a 7-year-old student whose jacket became caught on a bathroom stall hook, leaving him unable to free himself. The school called 911 and rushed the child to the hospital as a precaution. However, the child’s mother disputes the official account, alleging her son was intentionally “hanged.”
The mother, who spoke with a news crew and posted messages on social media, recounted her son’s version of the event. According to her, a fourth grader told her son, “I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day,” before hanging him by his jacket. She said her son was unable to call for help because he couldn’t breathe and learned the full extent of his injuries only when doctors at the hospital treated him for strangulation.
After the incident, Principal Carrie Burke informed parents and said a need for clarity remained. Burke also tried to dispel what she called misinformation that had circulated online. “I appreciate the quick thinking of the student who reported their classmate needed help, our staff for calmly managing a schedule disruption, and our students who followed our directions this afternoon so emergency medical services (EMS) could enter the school and provide care for the student,” Burke wrote in a letter to parents.
Over the weekend, Superintendent Maria V. Navarro addressed growing community concerns, emphasizing the district’s commitment to transparency while withholding specifics due to the ongoing investigation. She denied accusations of a cover-up. “Speculation about what did or did not happen impedes the investigation process,” Navarro said. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office has joined the school resource officer in investigating whether the CCPS Code of Student Conduct was violated.
The mother’s Instagram post over the weekend gained widespread attention, showing her son lying in a hospital bed with a neck brace and describing the incident as “the most heartbreaking and traumatizing situation my family has ever been in.” Her post, which amassed nearly half a million likes and tens of thousands of comments, called for systemic changes to prevent similar incidents.
Another parent, Courtney Andrews, shared concerns about the same fourth grader, alleging that her second-grade son was attacked in a school bathroom the day before. According to Andrews, the older student punched and kicked her son when he attempted to break up another altercation. Despite reporting the incident to teachers and an administrator, Andrews said the school did not contact her. “It seems like these bathrooms are definitely a blind spot, and the kids know it,” she said.
The mother of the hospitalized child said her family is still reeling from the event and fears the emotional toll it may take on her son. “Bullying should never be overlooked,” she said. “I feel like parents should speak up and demand accountability from any school. I’m committed to raising awareness and pushing for real change so what happened to my child won’t happen to anyone else’s.”
