15.07.2026 15:10
A scandalous negligence has emerged in a kindergarten in Kocaeli Gölcük. Rat poison was left in the children's play area. A 5-year-old child who touched the rat poison was monitored in the hospital for 2 days under suspicion of poisoning. While the tests came back clean, the family filed a complaint accusing the school administration of negligence and mishandling.
In the Gölcük district of Kocaeli, a 5-year-old child who allegedly came into contact with rat poison in the playground of a private kindergarten was kept under observation in the hospital for 2 days on suspicion of poisoning. After test results came back clean, the child's family filed a complaint against the school administration. Father Gürcan Yılmaz stated in his statement, "When my child told his teachers that he put his hand in his mouth and felt a bitter taste, they fed him yogurt despite being right next to a private hospital. What is poison doing in the playground?" he protested.
THEY LEFT IT WHERE CHILDREN COULD REACH The incident occurred at noon on June 29 at a private kindergarten in Gölcük. According to the claim, a rat poison station located in the children's play area was taken from its place by another child and brought to L. (5), who was sitting on the ground. It was reported that L., who allegedly played with the substance inside the box for about 2 minutes, told his teachers that he felt a bitter taste after putting his hand in his mouth.
HE ALMOST LOST HIS LIFE It was claimed that the staff who noticed the situation washed the child's hands and mouth, then fed him yogurt as a precaution. The family, informed about 40 minutes after the incident, took L. from the school and brought him to a nearby private hospital. After consulting the Poison Help Line, the little child was hospitalized and kept under observation for 2 days.
Additionally, school officials reached by phone regarding the allegations stated that no comment would be made at this time since the matter has been taken to court.
INSTEAD OF TAKING HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, THEY ONLY FED HIM YOGURT L.'s father, Gürcan Yılmaz, reported that they have initiated legal proceedings regarding the matter. Describing what happened, Gürcan Yılmaz said, "On June 29, around noon, my wife received a call from the daycare. They told her, 'Your child was playing in the schoolyard and kicked open a rodent station containing toxic substance used for pest control. He broke the poison inside and played with it for a while. He was exposed to this poison. Later, when the teachers at the daycare saw this, his hands and mouth were washed in the sink. Unfortunately, as a precaution, he was fed yogurt.' We were informed of this situation about 40 minutes after the incident. It took us about an hour to get there. During this time, when my child told his teachers that he put his hand in his mouth and felt a bitter taste, they fed him yogurt despite being right next to a private hospital. Of course, this poison, due to the chemicals it contains, can cause very serious consequences in the human body. Upon learning this, I wanted to go to the daycare immediately, pick up my child, and take him to the hospital. We received responses like 'Nothing will happen.' They said they consulted the poison company and that as long as he didn't ingest it in quantities proportional to his body weight, there would be no life-threatening danger. Of course, we couldn't really take these reassuring comments seriously. This is a life-threatening situation," he said.
HE WAS HOSPITALIZED THE SAME DAY Stating that they took L. from the daycare and brought him to the hospital, Yılmaz said, "When we went to the hospital, we entered through the emergency room. When the doctors in the ER realized the seriousness of the situation, they immediately referred us to the polyclinic upstairs. The doctor who took care of us there, thankfully, immediately called the Ministry of Health's Poison Help Line. He told us that this is how one should react in such situations. Of course, the school, the daycare, did not have such a reaction. After the consultation, the Poison Help Line told us that the child should be quarantined for 72 hours, kept in an isolated environment, no one should touch him, and even nurses and doctors should intervene with masks and gloves. We were hospitalized that same day," he said.
"WHEN WE LEARNED IT WAS POISON, MY CHILD AND WE WERE VERY SCARED" Yılmaz stated that his daughter was kept under observation in the hospital for two days, saying, "We received intensive preventive treatments here. We went through test and treatment processes that left very heavy traces on the child's psychological and physical well-being. When I say heavy, the child was affected and scared by this process. Of course, when he learned it was poison, he got scared. So we got scared too. After staying in the hospital for two days and, thank God, our tests came back clean, we were discharged. Our doctor told us we needed to observe him at home for one more day. After that day passed, we came back to the hospital and had another blood test. Thankfully, the results of these three days of blood tests came back clean," he said.
"IT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHILDREN'S PLAY AREA" Yılmaz, who said he watched the security camera footage, continued his words as follows:
"The failure to take necessary precautions at the school, having such serious chemicals and toxic substances in the middle of the children's play area, is unacceptable. Look, I'm emphasizing this: it's in the middle of the physical education area. It is positioned in a way that children might mistake it for a toy and pick it up. This isn't even a 2 or 3 square meter area. I watched the footage. A friend of his takes the poison from the middle of the play area and brings it to my daughter. While my daughter is sitting on the ground, she picks up the box. We were told that the child opened the poison box by kicking it. I didn't see anything like that in the footage. When I asked the officials who use these poison stations, they said it should be under a locked mechanism. They conveyed that it should not be opened even with intervention. As humans, we also think: what is poison doing in a children's play area? I also conveyed this to the school officials. 'If you are going to put it there, why aren't you taking preventive measures? How can children access this? How can they pick it up, open it, and come into contact with the toxic substance?' I asked. This takes 2-3 minutes. The child plays with that poison for about 2 to 2.5 minutes. His teacher is attending to another child at the edge of the play area. Later, when another teacher notices this, they take him to wash his hands. The person who takes him to wash his hands—I don't know what their role is at that institution—leaves the child in the restroom. The child is alone in the restroom for 5-10 seconds. During that time, he puts his hand in his mouth and tells his teacher that he tastes a bitter taste. Then they feed him yogurt."
"MAKESHIFT MEASURES" Criticizing the intervention applied at the kindergarten, Yılmaz said, "Taking such makeshift measures, such unprofessional behavior at an institution where we entrust our children, our defenseless children, truly shocked us. I wouldn't even call it a measure. Such an application is unacceptable."
In this incident, they declared the teacher guilty. They responded to us, saying, 'The teacher was responsible for that area.' They stated that the poison company had told them the poison needed to be there, and they did not intervene. From an educator's perspective, they did not consider that the poison could not be there. Beyond the educator, from a parent's perspective, they failed to realize that the poison should not have been there. It was a very difficult process for us. Frankly, we lived with the fear that something might happen to our child every minute. During this process, they met with us once or twice. They said they were very sorry, deeply regretful, and that such an incident should not have happened. However, the carelessness and lack of seriousness here, in such an educational institution, deeply saddened us."
FAMILY FILE A COMPLAINT Gürcan Yılmaz, stating that after the incident, samples were taken from the kindergarten by the relevant teams for examination, announced that they would closely follow the legal process. Yılmaz, who said they also filed a complaint about the school in question with CIMER and the District Directorate of National Education, expressed that they experienced great fear days before their daughter's birthday.
"SHE EXPERIENCED THIS 3 DAYS BEFORE HER BIRTHDAY" Yılmaz concluded his words as follows:
"With just 2-3 days left until our child's birthday, experiencing something like this while we were preparing for the birthday party truly saddened us deeply. It also upset our child greatly. All our plans were canceled. Our child's school process was canceled. Our work was disrupted. Despite her young age, our child went through those difficult testing processes. She felt some fear when she saw the medications she took. Of course, we were scared too. We will wait for the test result, or rather, the legal result. Hopefully, the outcome will be favorable for both sides. This was a big lesson for us. From now on, we have decided to research such precautions better at the school where we will enroll our child. I recommend this to all parents as well. Let them thoroughly investigate the teachers' education levels, whether they are vocational high school or academic graduates, the school's occupational safety conditions, its measures, and the seriousness of its health precautions." - KOCAELI