Teacher's Aide Accused Of Taping Child's Mouth Shut

A paraprofessional at Whitehead Road Elementary School in Athens, Ga. was put on leave after putting clear packaging tape over a girl's mouth to prevent her from talking, WXIA-TV reported.

Clark Country Superintendent of Schools Philip Lanoue told the Athens Banner-Herald that this kind of treatment isn't allowed at the elementary school.

"This incident is counter to our philosophy and how we work with kids, and we will not tolerate it. Swift action will always be taken if there are any issues like this in our district."

According to reports, the aide put the tape on the student's mouth near the end of the Wednesday school day at around 2:25 p.m. because the child would not quiet down.

Although the little girl pulled the tape off within seconds, the classroom teacher reported the incident to school administrators.

School officials informed the child's parents of what had happened and the disciplinary actions they took.

Currently, Georgia is one of only 19 states that allow corporal punishment, but that could change soon, the Independent Mail reported. A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York last week aims to ban "paddling, spanking, or other forms of physical punishment, however light, imposed upon a student."

Under the proposal, states that do not ban corporal punishment could face losing federal funding for their schools.

Comments

[Yvonne Morentin]

07:39 PM on 11/16/2011

According to reports, the aide put the tape on the student's mouth near the end of the Wednesday school day at around 2:25 p.m. because the child would not quiet down, as i recall most elementary children have a hard time being still or quiet towards the end of the day, that does not excuse nor allow the aid to put tape on any child's mouth, it is wrong. the teacher and aids have options in place through the school, district and union, which are there to help them and if need be to have a problem student removed from the class room, regardless of age. what makes anyone think the child deserved this, children are children, and more often then not they are noisy and rambunctious and it does not give any aid/teacher or any one the right abuse/mistreat a child. What the aid taught this child is that when some one is not quiet or is saying something you don't like, or not behaving in the manner you want them to, then the appropriate response is to tape their mouth... yes that is exactly what the department of education, the district and the school is asking an aid to teach (not!)... Abuse is not excused nor based on whether the child is noisy or unruly, or amount of times it occurred, once is enough. If the job is too hard, don't teach but it doesn't give them the right to abuse/mistreat children.

[MarcEdward]

06:02 PM on 10/03/2011

Id guess the kid probably thought it was funny

[Victor3]

10:46 PM on 10/02/2011

WTF???? Michelle Rhee got away with this and continues to boast about it in an apologetic way. It's part of her "rep" now. Maybe it's because she used duct tape and tricked the kids into leaving it on, yeah, that's it. If only DC had been on the ball we would not now have Rhee raping our public ed system.

[50AndreaTexas]

02:34 PM on 10/02/2011

Today's generation of 'ME ME ME and I I I'. Parents are too busy on cell phones, ipad, texting etc, to take the time to teach respect and manners. Put your phone down, parents and talk to your kids! Your children learn from your example and many are falling short. Children want dicipline and respect an adult that teaches them how to respect others. A child that is acting out is usually one that has a parent that does not spend one on one time with them. You are responsible for your children - take the responsibility seriously!

[Yvonne Morentin]

07:28 PM on 11/16/2011

Abuse is not excused or based on whether the parents are responsible or not, or amount of times it occurred, once is enough. If the job is too hard, don't teach but it doesn't give them the right to abuse or mistreat children.

[Paul1965]

02:12 PM on 11/18/2011

great advice, if you want your kids to become little robot followers! so the mouth taping was fine with you, as a responsible parent? Kinda scary, lady

[countbio]

01:31 PM on 10/02/2011

Didn't Michelle Rhee (former head of DC schools and "superman" of education reform) admit to doing the exact same thing when she was a Teach For America teacher?!

[Kat Ingalls]

04:45 PM on 09/30/2011

What's up with GA? I've been reading way too many scary stories about that place.

[consuxmoose]

01:02 PM on 09/30/2011

if it was my kid,that teacher would have my fist taped to his jaw !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paul1965]

02:24 PM on 11/18/2011

yup

[Thadeus Buttons]

12:32 PM on 09/30/2011

I had my mouth duct taped in my AP Earth and Environmental Science class in 12th grade. I was forced into taking the class so I didn't really want to be in it so I was a trouble maker in the class and talked a lot. I'm not upset at the teacher though since I totally deserved it. She's pretty cool so it's all good. I also got a 5 on the exam for the class which is the highest score on an AP test.

[vcrozas]

03:55 PM on 09/30/2011

Obviously you were not traumatized and this did not ruin your life or lol make your inappropriate behaviour appropriate because you were "treated unjustly". Seems like all this time out, removing privileges etc etc etc is working real good. Kids are killing each other off, being a mom at 16 is an ok thing to do, cheating, like, killing parents...yep no disicipline is working real good.

[Fran Jaime]

12:24 AM on 10/01/2011

Yes but you were in 12th grade not elementary.

[Justin Swaby]

10:53 AM on 09/30/2011

a teacher in grade-school taped my mouth shut once! I deserved it. I was a motor mouth and I was really annoying. I would argue with a brick wall.

[Jenny Rowland]

09:48 AM on 09/30/2011

I too once had my mouth taped shut in Kindergarten. I was a chatter box, and probably had it coming. It didn't traumatize me or scar me. I hardly remember it. It must have worked, it only happened once. I'm sure I'll catch flack for this, but is it really that big of a deal? This sort of thing used to happen a lot. Now, we say we know better and have better methods. That might be true to an extent, but let me pose this question. Why haven't we see a marked improvement in behavior at schools, now that we have these superior methods?

[vcrozas]

03:55 PM on 09/30/2011

f & f I agree totally

[Paul1965]

02:17 PM on 11/18/2011

so right, Jenny. And since tape can be removed, how about a ball gag or something more in tune with your pre-Enlightenment philosophy? And how about just hitting the kids to induce more adult-friendly behavior? I bet if you just beat the heck out of one "bad" kid in front of the class on the first day of school the world would be a better place, and people like you would get to tell the rest of us how to raise our kids.

[coreypaul]

09:46 AM on 09/30/2011

dont spare the rod or something like that is what most religious folk say, so chances are, the parents are really glad, plus, they surely dont want their daughter to go against the bible....no woman should speak up about anything...says so in the bible

[Hillary Wentz]

02:55 PM on 09/30/2011

I don't see a statement about religion anywhere in this article.

[Paul1965]

02:27 PM on 11/18/2011

coreypaul is right. The corporal punishment tradition comes straight from religious schools-nuns with rulers, etc, and if you break down support for corporal punishment it's pretty much along religious/conservative lines.

[gmc2me]

09:29 AM on 09/30/2011

I would have waited for that TA and duct taped their mouth and hands.

Get out of that one beech !

[Dede Eagleburger]

01:20 AM on 10/01/2011

omg!!

[UDKM2010]

07:26 AM on 09/30/2011

I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.
I will not talk in class.

[vcrozas]

03:57 PM on 09/30/2011

LOL Agreed ....write lines 25, 50, and in, stay in 5 minutes or recess for each infraction...

[imokit]

09:34 AM on 10/03/2011

Got to be able to write first. 5 year old, won't quite manage that, 8 year old on the other hand, fun times.

[TarzanaGirl]

05:48 AM on 09/30/2011

In spite of the fact that paraprofessionals are minimally trained and paid, there is NO EXCUSE for this type of inappropriate discipline. As a children's mental health counselor I know what I'm talking about. In fairness to everyone involved, there is not enough background info presented to know how long this type of behavior has been a problem, what other tactics have been utilized, if the parents had previously met with the teacher regarding the situation, etc. What is clear, however, is that the involved paraprofessional needs A LOT more education and training in the area of appropriate and effective discipline for elementary school-aged children. HUMILIATION - which is the tactic that was used here - is NEVER an APPROPRIATE tactic!!!

I don't know if this school has a counselor, but they do have a Principal who could have met with the student and parents. Is the child ADHD? Are there emotional problems? Is the child residing in a dysfunctional home? Is the child being bullied at school? Kids "act up" for a reason and it doesn't appear as if the reason for this child's inablility to sit quietly has been properly addressed. Perhaps most discerning of all - at least to professionals - is the unfortunate fact that there are still some elementary schools in the USA that are utilizing corporal punishment. There is no place for this BARBARIC method in the 21st Century, not with all we've learned about child development and the dire consequences of inappropriate punishment...

[Hillary Wentz]

02:58 PM on 09/30/2011

She was acting up because she was a hyper kindgergartener. I don't think that talking too much or being hyper would warrant that she has emotional problems or a dysfunctional family.

[TarzanaGirl]

12:15 PM on 10/03/2011

As I already posted, there was not enough background information given in the article to make a proper assessment. What the article did state, though, is the inappropriate manner in which the paraprofessional chose to discipline an elementary school child. That is what I was commenting about. NO ONE has the right to tape a child's mouth shut!!!

[vcrozas]

04:01 PM on 09/30/2011

OH GAWWWWWD you consellors really know all that reasoning and rationalizing and time out bs and then when they are killing as a teenager you say OH the brain is not even capable of reasoning and rationalizing and self control. So in essence what we have is a bunch of entitled, for the majority self centered little brats who cannot communccate unless they are texting and a whole slew of brats who think they are little special darlings and their parents think so too. Guess that is why bullying is running rampant because the guidelines work so well. It is not working...sorry, and BTW I too have been in counselling and have counselled. Shalom and Namaste

[policy5]

05:02 AM on 09/30/2011

There are many other ways to punish a student besides paddling. Time-out, loss of a priveledge, calling parents, are just a few of many options