Teacher fired for duct-taping students mouths

[frisco]

A colleague of mine's son is one of the students in this class. How bizarre:

Teacher fired for duct-taping students' mouths

TOWNSEND, Mass. -- A local teacher was fired after she was accused of some troubling discipline.

Parents said a teacher at Spaulding Elementary School used duct tape on several students' mouths.

"I would think of something out of a weird horror movie, in all honesty, a bunch of seven year olds sitting in their desks with their mouths taped shut. Picture it in your head. I'm sure it would make you nauseous too," said Alaina, a parent.

Alaina says her seven-year-old son Riley was one of 20 students in his first grade class that had his mouth duct taped shut by the teacher Ms. Emily Metcalfe.

"To go about duct taping their mouths shut is not just inappropriate, it's unacceptable," Alaina said.

The superintendent confirmed that the incident happened, saying, "It is a very sad situation and nothing that a superintendent can make an excuse for."

The superintendent went on to say that the teacher may have thought at first this was a joke, but that there was a lack of professional judgment

"If something had gotten out of hand, I would imagine there would be one heck of a lawsuit," Alaina said.

According to the superintendent, the teacher was fired, but Alaina doesn't think that is enough.

"Something should happen other than termination because who's to say she can't get another job at a school and who's to say something worse doesn't happen next time," Alaina said.

They are looking for a substitute teacher to take over the class. This will be the third teacher for the first grade class. Their first teacher died of a heart attack earlier this year.

 

[JR6ooo4]

"To go about duct taping their mouths shut is not just inappropriate, it's unacceptable," Alaina said.

to not support your child's teacher when she repeatedly tells you your kid has diahrea of the mouth is ok though...

Mikeeee

 

[frisco]

to not support your child's teacher when she repeatedly tells you your kid has diahrea of the mouth is ok though...

Mikeeee

Where did it say that?

I hope you're not justifying what this teacher did....

 

[a1tinkfans]

OMG! What a HORROR! I think it amounts to ABUSE.... of power and would not be surprised at all if lawsuits follow.
Meanwhile, the class has been traumatized/affected enough with the sudden loss of their first teacher (how sad) now this and now ANOTHER teacher, at least the school year is almost over and perhaps the summer break will place it out of their minds.........I think sometimes it affects the parents MORE than the kids who are generally quite resilient.
Personally, I would be outraged and would file a formal complaint with the district so it was documented and not "shushed". It is amazing that people
"do " these crazy things.........

 

[happygirl]

 

[a1tinkfans]

to not support your child's teacher when she repeatedly tells you your kid has diahrea of the mouth is ok though...

Mikeeee

I hope you're not a teacher! Though I understand kids that are "issues" that does not amount to allowing "abuse" of kids!

 

[Liberty Belle]

to not support your child's teacher when she repeatedly tells you your kid has diahrea of the mouth is ok though...

Mikeeee

 

[Imzadi]

This will be the third teacher for the first grade class. Their first teacher died of a heart attack earlier this year.

I'm actually thinking of another movie. That's something straight out of Harry Potter, when they couldn't keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

I remember back in 4th grade our teacher (a nun) used giant masking tape to put over some of the kid's mouths. This was back in 1980 and I thought it was just awful then. Can't imagine any teacher thinking it would be ok today.

 

[mjkacmom]

I was at first going to support the teacher, assuming these were older kids, middle school or high school, but 1st graders?!

 

[RitaZ.]

All teachers deal with difficult students. How come they don't all resort to using duct tape to maintain order in the classroom?

There was a similar incident at a Miami public school. The teacher used duct tape to keep a student in his seat. I have to wonder about the mental stability of a person that decides to use duct tape to control a child.

 

[agnes!]

I have to wonder how that teacher would like it if her mouth were taped shut...

agnes!

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

Duct tape can pull off skin. That teacher was completely out of line and could have seriously injured one of the kids. Safety tip: if you start to think that using duct tape on a kid is a good idea, you need to step away immediately.

 

[happygirl]

There was a toddler who was at daycare and died after having his mouth duct tape

 

[JR6ooo4]

Where did it say that?

I hope you're not justifying what this teacher did....

Of course not.

but the real cause of the kids not behaving, the parents, are not taking any responsibility. Otherwise the children would not have killed one teacher already and drove another to such extremes.

Mikeeee

 

[Liberty Belle]

Of course not.

but the real cause of the kids not behaving, the parents, are not taking any responsibility. Otherwise the children would not have killed one teacher already and drove another to such extremes.

Mikeeee

Woah. The children killed the first teacher? I wonder who was trying to kill my granny when she had her heart attack? I thought it was from smoking and poor dietary habits.

The teacher is responsible for her actions. The students did not drive her to duct tape them.

 

[Savanah'sMom]

Of course not.

but the real cause of the kids not behaving, the parents, are not taking any responsibility. Otherwise the children would not have killed one teacher already and drove another to such extremes.

Mikeeee

OMG!! are you serious?! That is so out of line I don't even know what else to say.....

 

[luvmy3]

She couldn't control a bunch of 1 st graders without resorting to that
As someone pointed out, duct tape is not the same as scotch tape, it can cause serious damage to a person's skin, especially the sensitive lip area. Good golly how awful for those kids, I don't care what kind of trouble maker a kid is, they don't deserved to be treated like that.
Anyone else think they should require mandatory psychological exams for teachers?

 

[Handbag Lady]

Sometimes I wish I had duct tape to use on those girls who talk the whole time when I'm on Pirates at DL. I don't know who they are and they always look different, but man, they can't shut up.

I can SO totally see why someone would WANT to do this, but to actually do it...?

And yes, the parents really need to parent if the teacher has told them many times their kids won't shut up. The teacher and parents should have tag-teamed the kids instead of allowing it to come to this extreme.

 

[TomLovesBecky]

Of course not.

but the real cause of the kids not behaving, the parents, are not taking any responsibility. Otherwise the children would not have killed one teacher already and drove another to such extremes.

Mikeeee

Wow. This is sick.