“Amamanta a tu bebé en tu tiempo libre”: la respuesta de un profesor de California a una alumna que estudia por Zoom

Un profesor de California, EE. UU., implementó una nueva regla para impartir sus clases virtuales. Todos sus estudiantes debían encender la cámara y micrófono de sus computadoras para garantizar su asistencia.

El pedido lo hizo por correo electrónico y Marcella Mares, madre de una bebé de 10 meses, respondió explicándole que no tenía inconvenientes, pero que posiblemente apagaría los aparatos de vez en cuando para amamantar a su bebé.

Sin embargo, el profesor respondió: “Eso no es lo que debes estar haciendo durante la clase. Hazlo en tu tiempo libre”, según publicó la joven en su cuenta de Instagram, en la que, además subió una foto alimentando a su hija para demostrar que “sí me puedo concentrar en clases mientras amamanto a mi niña”.

Minutos después, Mares encendió su cámara y micrófono para escuchar una “aclaración” del profesor, aunque lo primero que dijo a toda la clase en la reunión de Zoom fue: “Recibí un correo realmente extraño de una estudiante que decía que necesitaba hacer cosas inapropiadas durante la clase. Chicos, deben entender que ahora tienen prioridades y necesitan poner todas esas distracciones a un lado o ponerse creativos cuando sus niños los necesiten”.

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I never write long posts but this is a good one! • • • I didn’t want to post this picture because I just wanted it for me but I just wanted to show that I CAN focus in class WHILE breastfeeding my child. My professor changed the requirements for class & said we needed to have our camera & microphone on in order to receive credit for the attendance part of class. I told him I obviously don’t have a problem with having my camera & microphone on but I might need to turn them off to feed my daughter from time to time. His response was “that’s not what you should be doing during class. Do that on your own time.” I didn’t respond & went to class about a half hour later. The first thing he says to the whole class in our zoom meeting was “I got this really weird email from a student stating she needed to do inappropriate things during lecture time. You guys need to understand that you have priorities now and you need to put all those distractions aside or be creative when your child needs you and give your full attention in my class.” If you know me, you know how pissed this made me. It was one thing to send the email telling me what I can and can’t do in my house with my child. But it’s a whole other thing when he announced a “weird” email was received about “inappropriate” things. I felt so unmotivated during class I was so hurt that an actual human said these things about me & my breastfed baby in public to other students. I was humiliated. Then I realized, he should be humiliated. He discriminated against me and many others when he said “put those distractions aside or be creative when your child needs you” like what the fuck?! This is a child we are talking about not our phones or TVs or any other THING. I am so so happy my cousin has helped me with taking action with this & got me in contact with some of her friends who got me in contact with people they know. I hope this man thinks before he decides to continue with his career, if he even has one anymore. Breastfeeding mamas &any mama that is trying to juggle school, work, & a child should be praised not put down & humiliated. I love my baby & would choose her health over anything or anyone, any day of any week!

A post shared by Marcella Mares (@cellapage_) on Sep 24, 2020 at 2:55pm PDT

Ante ese comentario, Mares perdió la concentración y dice que se sintió “desmotivada”, “humillada”, “discriminada”, “tan herida de que un ser humano dijera aquellas cosas”.

“Las mamás que amamantan y están tratando de hacer malabares entre la escuela, el trabajo y un bebé deben ser elogiadas, no menospreciadas ni humilladas”, escribió la joven en Instagram.

“Amo a mi bebé y pondría su salud por encima de cualquier cosa y de cualquier persona, ¡cualquier día de cualquier semana!”, escribió.