Student Locked In Cage: NM Teacher On Leave After Cell Phone Video Leaked

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A shop teacher at a New Mexico high school has been put on paid on leave after cell phone video surfaced of her locking up a student in an outdoor cage.

Santa Fe police say the 15-year-old boy was acting out in class on Jan. 7. The teacher had other students help drag the boy outside and lock him in the chain-link enclosure used for storage.

Santa Fe Police Detective Sgt. Louis Carlos tells KOAT-TV in Albuquerque that the boy can be seen waving to classmates and eventually kicks the gate to free himself. Carlos calls the video disturbing and says the female teacher could face child abuse and false imprisonment charges.

The district attorney will determine if charges are warranted.

___

Information from: KOAT-TV, http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/index.html

Comments

[dirtydog1776]

11:22 AM on 02/18/2011

Many years ago when I was in middle school, I was being disruptive in my English class. The teacher dragged me out of the classroom by my hair and pushed me into the wall. Surprisingly, she was a very small lady but determined. When I went home that night crying to my parents, they said don't disrupt the class anymore, grounded me for a week and said don't let it happen again and you won't have any problem. Good advice that I followed all during school. I graduated out of a large senior class of over 750 kids in the top 25%. Wonder where the disruptive student in this story will end up? Just curious.

[pierre F Lherisson]

10:03 PM on 01/21/2011

Nobody will benefits from a disruptive class. A child with an unlimited freedom will have a restrictive future.

[denzel brooks]

06:03 AM on 01/26/2011

The cage had oil in it. Not a matter of it he would eat it or something, what if it caught fire? What if he slipped and got hurt? Ever think of that? Anything could've happened, but if not being (Directly) violent means it's ok for a teacher. Then let me tie your kid to a tree, that has a wasps nest. As long as he doesn't groan and move too much he'll be fine. Teachers have a RESPONSIBILITY to talk it out to the parents if they do not know what to do. Not lock them up. So stop that "She was only doing what she had to" crap, because she could have done A LOT more that would get better results, i would assume parent teacher conferences would be nice, or better yet, get him kicked out of the school or suspended! You're defending a teacher who is abusing power. I know some people will debate me on this and try to defend the teacher and all that, but she abused power, regardless of intention or stance of situation. This is also a crime, something a teacher should NEVER do is break the law, simple as that. But hey even hitler had followers.

[poeticjustice4all]

01:45 PM on 01/21/2011

Where is the mighty teachers union?

[hagagaga]

07:41 AM on 01/21/2011

And why hasn't she been charged with a felony yet?

[mtnwen]

07:38 AM on 01/21/2011

"COULD" face child abuse and false imprisonment charges? One wonders how many times this has happened.

[marknez21]

02:49 AM on 01/21/2011

Fire her ASAP.

[EagleSpirit54]

01:41 AM on 01/20/2011

The point that bothers me the most is how this teacher thought it feasible to get other students to lock the disruptive one up. How wrong is that? Isn't bullying a problem in schools anymore? Why would a teacher think it appropriate to have his classmates gang up on him. Teacher not mature enough to handle her job?

[sibyl9]

10:56 PM on 01/19/2011

Hahahahahaha. Okay, it was inappropriate.

[VintageMary]

08:38 PM on 01/19/2011

While the punishment was obviously inappropriate, it does shine a spotlight on the failing institution of school discipline. And now that the story has hit national news outlets, the disruptive gets student gets more of what he wants - attention, and the teacher will get an undue amount of ire.

[poeticjustice4all]

11:50 AM on 01/20/2011

You post shines a spotlight on your ignorance. You should be dragged into a cage and locked up like an animal. Then we'd see how flip and casual you are about abuse.

How in God's name would you know that this child was being "disruptive?" Were you in the classroom?

Based on the pending criminal charges of child abuse and false imprisonment, the only "obviously inappropri­ate" behavior in this story came from the teacher.

[VintageMary]

04:49 PM on 01/20/2011

I believe its pretty safe to say the child was being disruptive in some manner. Does that give credence to the teachers response? Certainly not, and I never said it did. This article was not informative, it was incensing, and you yourself need to learn all the facts before you go flinging your anger around and suggesting I be locked in a cage. And might I ask when the last time was that you were in a high school classroom? The policies in place for effectively dealing with and disciplining students who misbehave are severely lacking and ineffectual. So please save your cries of ignorance for a more befitting subject, ok?

[hagagaga]

07:43 AM on 01/21/2011

Disruptive students aren't the only ones who get targeted by teachers. I was targeted by my AP Government teacher solely for my political views.

[dnb310]

08:12 PM on 01/19/2011

It's not even the cage, as bad as that is, but she "teacher had other students help drag the boy outside" ???! That's just nuts.

[dirtydog1776]

07:34 PM on 01/19/2011

By the way, how come all these kids always have a cell phone in school??? Oh that right, they aren't expected to learn anything and rules are restrictive, crush creativity and discriminate against minorities and alternative life styles.

[VintageMary]

08:31 PM on 01/19/2011

Not *quite* the point, but very true none the less.

[dirtydog1776]

07:26 PM on 01/19/2011

Like to know the teacher's side of the story. With schools being the way they are, good chance he deserved it.

[poeticjustice4all]

11:51 AM on 01/20/2011

There's a good chance YOU deserve to be dragged into a cage and locked away.

[dirtydog1776]

11:17 AM on 02/18/2011

You can't do that, I have the Humane Society I can call and report you. Tee hee, my comment was tongue in cheek, should have made that more clear. You need to chill Bro and get a sense of humor. By the way, most schools are zoos with the inmates in charge of the asylum, a good reason why we are mass producing whole generations of unemployables. The people that suffer the most are minorities in which huge percentages of the students graduate (if at all) unable to construct intelligible sentences, do simple math and knowing nothing about our society.

[Mr Anonymous]

01:28 AM on 01/22/2011

Just because someone thinks someone deserves something, it doesn't mean they should act on those actions. As a teacher, I understand that sometimes students can push your buttons and make you want to freak out, but as a professional you put it aside and deal with the situation appropriately. The only thing she accomplished will be losing her job, getting a lawsuit, and going to jail.

[Imadeul00k]

07:25 PM on 01/19/2011

Obvoiusly the wrong solution. But, it draws attention to a real problem.

[poeticjustice4all]

12:11 PM on 01/20/2011

Yes, the problem of child abusers with teaching degrees.

[Ariel Bonzai]

07:16 PM on 01/19/2011

I am a teacher; I say FIRE that guy! What the heck was he thinking? And his administrators have to go too

[Spartan112]

07:23 PM on 01/19/2011

Guy? Read the article...it was a she...sexist much?

[Ariel Bonzai]

06:34 AM on 01/20/2011

My bad. Shop teacher sorta threw me off.

[Roberta Roby Socia]

07:13 PM on 01/19/2011

Peaceful parenting for a peaceful world. It starts at home. The more we condone violence, the more it will come back at us. Repression, punishments, and retaliations just bring on more of the same.

[Num1Christy]

08:32 PM on 01/19/2011

I think this kid needed a few more punishments at home and perhaps he wouldn't have been such a disruption at school.

[poeticjustice4all]

11:56 AM on 01/20/2011

It's a good thing this child was "disruptive." Thanks to this boy, the teacher's outrageous and illegal actions were exposed to the parents in this community. This teacher is facing charges of child abuse. Do you suppose this is the first time?

You need to be punished for encouraging child abuse.