It’s October, and that means Halloween for those who celebrate the holiday, said to have its origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain observed in ancient Britain and Ireland.
For children in the US and other parts of the world, it’s a chance to dress up in character costumes and go trick or treating.
However, there are times when people take things too far. We get it, it’s a spooky holiday intended to scare the little ones.
But this latest incident got the whole online community riled up.
According to The Associated Press, a daycare centre in Mississippi fired four employees after several videos surfaced on Facebook showing them scaring a classroom of toddlers while wearing masks from horror movie franchise “Scream”.
In one video, an employee is heard yelling at the little ones who didn’t “clean up” or “act good”.
What’s even more disturbing are the children’s reactions, with some screaming or running away in terror.
After the incident was brought to the attention of state regulators, they decided to investigate further.
The owner of the daycare centre, Sheila Sanders, told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that she only became aware of the videos last week.
“No one came forth to tell me it happened in September,” she said after finding out another video was made as recent as last week Tuesday.
“The people that did those acts are no longer with us. They were fired. I wasn’t here at the time and wasn’t aware they were doing that. I don’t condone that and never have. I just want to say it’s been taken care of,” she added.
One of the employees, the one seen wearing the mask, has now come forward, claiming other staff members coerced her into doing it.
The woman behind the mask, referring to herself CeeCee, attempted to explain her actions in an emotional 19-minute clip uploaded to Facebook in the wake of losing her job, the Express reported.