Nursery workers have been fired after wearing horrifying Halloween masks to scare toddlers as a form of ‘punishment’.
An upsetting video shows a staff member at Lil’ Blessings Childcare in Mississippi, USA, terrifying the young children into behaving by screaming into their faces and chasing after them.
One worker can even be heard telling the masked woman to avoid the ‘good’ toddlers and target the ones who have been ‘bad’, leaving many in tears.
Furious parents have described the punishment as ‘hideous’.
The children can be seen sobbing as they run away or stand still in fear as the woman goes around the room shouting ‘you better be good’.
At one point the woman leans over a child and asks him ‘are you being bad’, to which the scared little boy wails ‘no’.
Four members of staff have now been fired, according to the Monroe Journal.
The video was shared on Facebook on Thursday by an apparently concerned colleague who did ‘not get amusement from this’.
Jennifer Kayla Newman, who recorded and posted the video, said she wanted to highlight the behaviour to parents of the children at the nursery.
She said: ‘A couple of weeks ago some girls at the daycare bought Halloween masks to scare the kids, they did it and I never caught it on video.
‘When I heard she was going to do it again, I recorded to get the proof and then the video was sent to parents to show them how their child was being treated.’
Police have now confirmed they are investigating the incident.
They said: ‘The Monroe County, MS Sheriff’s Department is aware of a video from the daycare in Hamilton and is working with county prosecutor to see if there is any possible criminal charges that can be filed.’
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