Parents Upset Kindergarteners Locked In Jail Cell During Field Trip

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Apr 19, 2012 8:40PM

Parents of kindergarteners in the suburb of Berkeley are upset their children were taken on a field trip to the Hillside Police Station Monday, where kids say they were locked in jail cells.

Parents claim they were told the children were going on a trip to visit the library. The permission slips they signed said the children were going on an educational field trip to the Hillside Public Library and Village Hall.

Now parents say they are uncomfortable with what their children were shown at the police station and asked if this was some sort of "scared-straight tactic." The Sun-Times writes:

“[Stephen Ware] said he was shown a vest and holster that holds a gun, and something that goes on your ankle, and he was put in a jail cell and the door was locked,” his mother said.

“We were both upset,” Stephen’s grandmother said. “We are wondering what they are prepping him for? What are they saying to kindergartners? If you don’t listen to us, this is where you are going to end up?”

Another mother whose daughter went on the jail trip also felt parents were misled.

“I wouldn’t have wanted a kindergartner being shown a gun holder and all that,” Lisa Wanderer said. “My daughter [Aliyah] was uncomfortable.”

Hillside Police Chief Joseph M. Lukaszek said the students weren't placed in jail cells and the child may have misinterpreted a holding area for a jail cell.