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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nPolk County Public Schools<\/a> is now investigating the incident, which took place Sept. 29 at Floral Avenue Elementary School<\/a> in Bartow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The boy to whom the teacher sang is now too upset to return to school, his mother said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Desarae Prather of Bartow shared the video, having also posted it on Instagram and TikTok. The 28-second clip, apparently shot by the teacher, opens with fellow students sitting around the boy at a table in what appears to be the school\u2019s auditorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather\u2019s son, who had turned 6 just three days earlier, wears shorts and a dark shirt bearing the school\u2019s logo. After the students finish singing \u201cHappy Birthday to You,\u201d a woman is heard addressing the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you like the funny song now that I sing to you?\u201d she asks, prompting a nod from the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOK, it goes like this,\u201d says the woman, who proceeds to sing in a jazzy style accompanied by finger snaps: \u201cHappy birthday to you. You live in the zoo. You look like a monkey, and you smell like one, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As some students laugh, the teacher giggles and adds, \u201cWhoo, give him a clap, everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather\u2019s son is Black, and she said the teacher is white. The teacher, who is not seen in the clip, emailed a copy of the video to Prather later that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy reaction, it was I couldn’t believe it,\u201d Prather said by phone on Oct. 1. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing funny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather said she had never heard the alternate version of \u201cHappy Birthday to You,\u201d a variation that children sometimes sing to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut the second one, the funny version, I felt like you were being racist,\u201d Prather said, as if addressing the teacher. \u201c\u2018You look like a monkey. You live in a zoo, and you smell like one, too.\u2019 I don’t approve of that, and that’s you humiliating him in front of his peers. No child should have to go to school and feel like they can’t confide in an authority figure without them calling them racial slurs, and that goes for any kid, not just my child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather said she did not respond to the teacher but promptly complained to the school. She said that school employees told her they could do nothing but relay her complaint to the Polk County Public Schools office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The district issued a statement on its social media channels the evening of Sept. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPCPS has been made aware of a video of a teacher singing to an elementary school student and his classmates,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThis is now being reviewed by district staff and our HR department. We understand and share the concerns about the teacher\u2019s actions and judgement. As a public school system we serve students and families of all cultures and backgrounds; we expect our employees to always keep that in mind as they interact with others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of the morning of Oct. 1, Prather said she had not heard from anyone with the school district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNobody has called me,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody has notified me or anything. But y\u2019all can make a public post on Facebook instead of reaching out to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather said that her son has grown so upset about the incident that he stayed home from school on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy son can’t \u2014 he\u2019s not even in school right now, because he feels as if people are going to call him a monkey, and his feelings are hurt,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I have to seek counseling for him because he was crying for not to be back in her class or even go back to that school. I shouldn’t have to wake up every day to see that my son feels this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prather said that her posts of the video have spread widely, drawing comments or reposts from such prominent figures as civil rights attorney Ben Crump, actor and comedian D.L. Hughley and rapper Diamond ATL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n