Shaiane Costa, a mother from Brazil, was growing concerned about her son’s behavior when he returned home from school, so she secretly placed a recorder in his backpack.
What she heard in the recording confirmed her fears and led to a police investigation.
The incident, which took place in Porto Alegre, has left a community demanding justice for the traumatized 3-year-old.
Image credits: Africa Studio/Adobe Stock (Not the actual photo)
Costa, a psychologist, enrolled her toddler at Tio Chico Education School, an institution run by the Military Police of Rio Grande do Sul.
The school provides free childcare for the children of military police officers aged 2 to 6, per BBC Brasil.
Initially, the mother was convinced she had chosen the right school for her son. After the usual adjustment period, Pedro, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, got used to the new environment and began making friends.
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Over time, however, Pedro began exhibiting physical and emotional signs that led Costa to become increasingly concerned about his wellbeing.
One day, the toddler arrived home with a bite mark on his arm that he said had been caused by a classmate.
“I asked if he hadn’t told the teacher [about the bite] and he said no, that she was busy looking after other classmates and that’s why he didn’t want to talk,” Costa told the BBC.
“I was completely baffled. How come nobody saw that bite?”
Image credits: psishaicosta/Instagram
When she asked the teacher about the bite, Costa was told that no one had seen what happened and that her son hadn’t cried.
“We found it strange. A bite like that must have hurt, and it’s normal for the child to cry,” she said.
On another day, Pedro came home suffering a high fever, without anyone at the school having informed his mother or father.
Later, the mother found the toddler had a severe diaper rash that made it difficult for him to walk around the house. Again, neither parent received information from the school.
“These little things kept happening and it seemed like nobody was seeing them,” she said.
The mother claimed that her attempts to contact the military-run school to receive information about her child were unsuccessful.
Image credits: Google Maps
“I sent messages to the sergeant, who is like the school coordinator, and I didn’t get a response,” she said. “I was just being ignored.”
“I have several records of messages I tried to send to the teacher, and she always downplayed them,” Costa added. “I didn’t receive any support from them; it was always ‘Oh, that happens, it’s normal.'”
Then came the emotional reactions to everything linked to the school.
When he woke up, the boy would ask whether he had to go to school. Pedro would stay silent or cry when told he had to go. His mother noticed a change in his behavior, including that he stopped playing at home and lacked energy and motivation.
Image credits: psishaicosta/Instagram
“It seemed like he spent the whole morning just waiting for that time [to go to school], which was going to be agonizing,” the mother described.
He also began apologizing several times to his mother for even the smallest mistakes, such as spilling water, and crying as he approached the school.
Desperate to understand what was happening to her child, Costa placed a recording device inside his backpack before dropping him off at school.
That day, Pedro came home almost voiceless, leading his mother to believe he was catching a cold.
Costa said what she heard in the recording left her “shocked.”
According to the BBC report, the boy can be heard crying, asking for his pacifier, and calling for his mother.
“My son screamed for about 40 minutes, and eventually calmed down on his own, because there’s a moment in the recording where he comes back and says ‘I calmed down,'” she described.
In one part of the recording, a woman can be heard telling the child, “What are you doing? You’re not going to paint anymore,” and the boy replies, “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not going to paint anymore, it’s over,” the woman tells Pedro, who starts to cry and asks for his mother. “Don’t bring up Mommy,” the woman says.
The most disturbing part of the recording is when the woman is heard telling Pedro, “Cry, cry a lot, cry your heart out. Otherwise, I’ll sh**t you.”
Image credits: tio_chicobm/Instagram
Costa said, “That day he came home hoarse, not because of a cold. It was from crying so much.”
The incident reportedly occurred last year. Costa and her husband were advised to file a complaint through the Internal Affairs Department of the Military Police of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Brigade concluded that “the analyzed files did not present sufficient technical elements to fully confirm the content disclosed, nor did they allow for the conclusive identification of the vocal authorship.”
“Based on the body of evidence gathered, including testimonies and expert reports, there were not enough elements identified to prove a criminal offense or disciplinary transgression,” the statement said.
Still, during the investigation into the case, Pedro’s teacher left her position at the school.
Image credits: tio_chicobm/Instagram
Authorities did not link the resignation to the incident, stating that “it is not the institution’s responsibility to disclose individualized information about civil servants or employees.”
Regarding Costa’s claims that she attempted to contact school authorities to receive information about Pedro’s health, the Brigade said it “maintains permanent channels of communication with families and treats all received requests seriously.”
The mother, who said many parents at the school started a petition calling for the teacher’s reinstatement, hopes that the MPRS (Rio Grande do Sul Public Prosecutor’s Office) will conduct its own investigation.
Luciana Genro, a former deputy for Rio Grande do Sul and one of the founders of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), voiced her support for Pedro and vowed to bring the case to the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul.
“The violence suffered by the child in a space that should be one of learning, support, and socialization is very serious. This cannot go unpunished!” she wrote on Instagram.
Image credits: psishaicosta/Instagram
Pedro is now attending a different school, where he has already made friends, and is going to therapy. Still, Costa said the cruelty he was subjected to at the previous school has left psychological damage on him.
“He has a phobia of closed doors, because he said he was locked in the sergeant’s office as punishment,” the mother explained. “This was always denied by the school. I wonder why a two-and-a-half-year-old child ended up in a sergeant’s office.”
Costa said she and her partner “often wonder what else he went through.”
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