Was Fair For Teacher to Tape Kid's Mouth Shut? Should He Be Fired?

Well my first reaction and the reaction of my fiance is that he asked for it. However, I know that I would not actually do such a thing as that could harm the child who may very well have trouble breathing through his nose because of allergies or not knowing how to properly do so. The teacher should have thought twice before doing so but as for the child he should not have prompted the teacher. The teacher should be put on a suspension but as for being fired I would say that he should first be evaluated before doing so as it was just as much the boy's fault as it were the teachers. The parents have a right to be upset and wish for the teacher to be fired but they should not overlook punishing the boy for acting out in class.

From reading this, I gather that the little boy has the kind of parents who allow him to get away with whatever he wants. Hence the reason for his "go ahead and do it". He knew what would happen because he's a spoiled brat. Hes already got a smart mouth on him at only 5. Something doesn't give here and its not all about the teacher. This teacher could have done much much worse than a simple piece of tape.

I read a lot of people who are upset over the teacher's approach but offer no alternatives. The child did not get spanked, he was not suspended, and I fail to see how someone could be harmed by having tape placed over their mouth. As someone else pointed out, the kid is obviously spoiled rotten and needs some serious boundaries laid in place! While I could see the parents being upset over corporal punishment or something truly severe, the plain and simple facts of the matter are that they have an unruly child who was acting-up outside of their presence. They consented to allow the teacher some manner of authority over the child, which the kid refuted, and thus was punished. I feel confident this was not the teacher's first response. The kid had to have been misbehaving even after being told to stop. No way the teacher should be fired - in fact, s/he ought to be given some credit for taking a creative and non-violent approach to punishment! The parents should be punished for their frivolity and reinforcing the kid's idea that the rules everyone else follows don't apply to him!

I wouldn't want anyone to tape my child mouth. If the child is getting mouthy or what my hubby calls saucy, first send the kid to the office. Have it made the problem of the parents. Yes I would be very upset if I were the parent.

That's a very wrong things to do. You should not tape the kids mouth even if they are so noisy inorder to shut up. Im sure the teacher must be fired or suspended from his teaching career, he doesn't have to be a teacher coz of his attitude., Teacher must have a long patience and know how to deal and understand kids and know to handle them not with harm. Happy posting.

I think the teacher should be fired , because it is nonsese to act like that. She can't act like this with other children. I would be very upset, it would be unthinkable that someone would do this to my child. The parents are ofcourse not over-reacting, it is fully natural that they act so.

That's a little extreme in my opinion. I wouldn't like someone touching my kid. One time near where my parent live, a teacher did that, but in this the child was crying and scared when the teacher taped them. This doesn't seem as severe.

I think the teacher made a bad suggestion and the boy assented. For the teacher to make such a suggestion and follow through shows bad judgement and I think he should learn better ways of getting 5 year olds in line. How hard can it be?

hi justin I would have been furious if that was my five year old child. Nobody has the right to tape a small childs' mouth shut, its obscene, and its damned unsanitary also. Yes I would want that teacher fired also.A five year old child is not a criminal;what the heck is wrong with that teacher? five year olds will talk, and the teacher should have known that.the parents are not overreacting in this case at all. the teacher is definitely in the wrong here. Putting tape over a childs mouth is not good discipline at all.

you would think the teacher would be mature enough to handle the situation better. the child is not getting the disipline at home that he needs. i would be upset w/her but i would be upset w/my child for not minding.

Well for me and my thoughts. If my sons teacher taped my sons mouth shut, we would have some issues weather the 5 year old said do it or not. I think that is abuse and without saying really out of line. If a 5yr old is talking to much you dont tape his mouth shut. I think the parents are not over reacting at all. The teacher should not be on paid leave. You know if we were to tape out kids mouth shut and they went to the school and said something to the teacher DHS would be called and they would be knocking at out door wondering what the heck is going on. I personally think the teacher should be fired. What is this teacher capable of? I dont think anyone knows. I too know as a parent the saftey issues of teachers and bus drivers. I posted a discussion here recently and i found that it is very important to people about the saftey of their children. So as for me i think the teacher should be fired, but thats just my thoughts. What does others think?

I do not think the parents are over reacting. That teacher had no right to lay a hand on the child let alone tape his mouth shut. If it were the parents that had done that the child would be taken away from the parents and they would be charged. I would be angry. We had a teacher raise his fist at our daughter, he did not hit her but he raised his fist. My husband went down to the school, when he got there the teacher was hiding in the closet. Teachers can find other means to punish the children.

Well, I think that I would be upset if the teacher did that even if the child told him to do so I still do not think he should have done that. Considering the ecomony I can't say that I would want him fired but I would want the school to take some type of actions toward the way he reacted to this situation. I think he should have sent the student to the office and maybe they could have requested a meeting with his parents to deal with his unruly behavior. When he placed the tape over the students mouth I think he went to far. Great discussion.

Well, in my opinion, it is definitely wrong of the teacher to tape a student's mouth shut. It is very wrong of a teach with the right morale to do so, maybe the teacher isnt suitable to be a teacher since he/ she is not able to take the student's talking. I would be very upset if i am the parents of the student whose mouth is being taped. As it is not the right way to teach a student.

First of all the kid was being smart mouthed. It is illegal in most states for a teacher to swat a child, they can send them to the principal but that does not good to smart mouthed kids. Second it is illegal in most states in the USA to tape a childs mouth. Most the time it won't hurt them though. The kid figured the teacher would not do it. He was rude, disruptive and out of line and disrespectful something his parents allowed him to do. I am sick of parents who let their brats get away with what they want them scream at anyone else finally making the brat behave. The teacher will probably get written up and put on notice, I doubt he will get fired. If he does I would file a counter suit on the parents who allow the brat to become this way. Discipline and respect for others starts at home. Parents who do not take the proper responsibility in punishing a child for rude, disrespectful, disrputive behavior need to start taking the blame and the responsibility. Make them go to 6 months of parenting classes and counseling with the child. It is not fair to have a teacher lose his or her job because some brat has been allowed to do as he or she pleases by indulgent stupid parents. It is unfair to other classmates as well. This kind of behavior if not curbed lead to crime and jail eventually. Then parents ask well what did we do, why is our kid in this place DUH it is your fault parents. Your the parent your supposed to teach, train and be an adult not act like a kid yourself.

Well, as a third party spectator, I think it's hilarious. It's a shame teachers are powerless to make a child behave. My aunt used to work with students that had behavioral disabilities. I'd hear stories about these little monsters mouthing off or biting, kicking, and screaming when she tried to make them behave. If it were me, I'd have been fired, because I'd have lost my patience and gave them the well deserved spanking they needed. But no, teachers have to use positive reinforcement. Detention and in-school suspension doesn't do much. If I were the parent, it would depend on how familiar I was with my child's behavior. If I knew he was a mouthy little brat, I'd probably shake the teachers hand. Otherwise, it would just depend on the situation. I mean it's not like the teacher taped over his nose, too. He wasn't in any danger from it. Some parents are just too touchy these days.

That sounds like a very weird experience and I have never heard of a teacher taping a child's mouth,because they were misbehaving,or speaking out in class,and the teacher asked if the boy wanted his mouth taped shut,and he said yes so he got what he asked for,so he is partly to blame,and the teacher can not be completely blamed for the incident,and I can understand that the parents would be upset but I think they should have focused more on the fact that their son was misbehaving in class,and I would probably me a little upset myself,and I think the parents were overreacting a little bit,and I think the teacher should not get fired,but should be put on probation,or go on leave without pay for a week or so,since no one got hurt in the incident.

I think the parents are over-reacting. Fired ? maybe a warning ....fired is too extremely. Err....opps, i sometime do tape my son's mouth!

The teacher was way out of line. It is plainly illigal to even touch a student in most states. In New York, giving a child a pat on the back can get you fire from your job. There were so many other things that teacher could have done. She could havegiven him a detention, called a dean, or called security. But she put not only her job in danger, but the child as well as the other children in the room. Im sure some of you disagree with me and think that this is not a big deal, but it really is. How would you reat if your child was tapped shut? Regardless of how he acted, you would expect your child to be taken care of in an approproate, and most of all, safe way. Wheather or not the teacher should be fired is subjective. I personally would not feel comfortable witha teacher that did that. However, is he understands that what he did was wrong and he will not do it again, then he should be allowed back into the school.

the teacher should not be fired. absolutely not. the child needs to learn some boundries and should not have been speaking to his teacher that way. he deserved what he got. the parents are totally over-reacting. do they know that the child told his teacher to do it? my child would be in big trouble for speaking that way to her teacher!! she'd be getting a lot more than a little tape over the mouth!!!