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21st July 2011, 07:36 PM
Parent complains after children were searched at pool
LANCASTER, Ohio -- About 65 children attending summer camp at the Robert K. Fox Family Y were told Tuesday to lower their bathing suits so counselors could visually inspect the suits after feces was found in the swimming pool.
That upset parent Ibrahim Y. Haroon, who said his 9-year-old son came home traumatized. He filed a complaint with the Lancaster police. Now the Y is investigating what happened and reviewing its policies, Executive Director Mike Lieber said today. Feces also was found in the pool on Monday and two other times within the last couple of weeks, he said. That could sicken the campers and the counselors in the water with them, he said. The campers are in the fourth to sixth grades.
After the fourth occurrence on Tuesday, counselors asked the children if anyone was sick or had a problem. No one came forward. So, the child-care director who supervises the counselors directed them to take the children two by two into the girls and boys locker rooms and shower areas, require them to turn around facing away from the counselors, and lower their swim shorts for inspection, Lieber said.
The children then pulled up their bathing suits and showered, he said. Haroon didn't like what he heard when his son came home.
"My child was very upset and seemed a bit traumatized," he said today. "His exact statement was it was very uncomfortable." Haroon filed a police report and also talked to Lieber. "I'm not sure that there was a criminal violation, but there was definitely a violation of his civil rights," he said. "Why weren't the parents notified before? If a search was going to be done, a child, like an adult, would have a right to due process."
Lieber said he reported the matter to Job and Family Services, which licenses the Y to run its school-age-child summer camp program, and was told that it would have been better to put the children, one by one, behind a privacy shield and have them hand out their suits to be inspected. The inspections provided no clues to which child had diarrhea, Lieber said.
The pool was thoroughly cleaned and reopened yesterday, he said.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/21/pool-kids.html?sid=101
LANCASTER, Ohio -- About 65 children attending summer camp at the Robert K. Fox Family Y were told Tuesday to lower their bathing suits so counselors could visually inspect the suits after feces was found in the swimming pool.
That upset parent Ibrahim Y. Haroon, who said his 9-year-old son came home traumatized. He filed a complaint with the Lancaster police. Now the Y is investigating what happened and reviewing its policies, Executive Director Mike Lieber said today. Feces also was found in the pool on Monday and two other times within the last couple of weeks, he said. That could sicken the campers and the counselors in the water with them, he said. The campers are in the fourth to sixth grades.
After the fourth occurrence on Tuesday, counselors asked the children if anyone was sick or had a problem. No one came forward. So, the child-care director who supervises the counselors directed them to take the children two by two into the girls and boys locker rooms and shower areas, require them to turn around facing away from the counselors, and lower their swim shorts for inspection, Lieber said.
The children then pulled up their bathing suits and showered, he said. Haroon didn't like what he heard when his son came home.
"My child was very upset and seemed a bit traumatized," he said today. "His exact statement was it was very uncomfortable." Haroon filed a police report and also talked to Lieber. "I'm not sure that there was a criminal violation, but there was definitely a violation of his civil rights," he said. "Why weren't the parents notified before? If a search was going to be done, a child, like an adult, would have a right to due process."
Lieber said he reported the matter to Job and Family Services, which licenses the Y to run its school-age-child summer camp program, and was told that it would have been better to put the children, one by one, behind a privacy shield and have them hand out their suits to be inspected. The inspections provided no clues to which child had diarrhea, Lieber said.
The pool was thoroughly cleaned and reopened yesterday, he said.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/21/pool-kids.html?sid=101