When in doubt…Duct Tape!

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Teacher Resigns After Duct Taping Child To Desk

A southeast Missouri teacher resigned last month after duct-taping a misbehaving seventh-grader to his desk and covering his mouth with tape, the district’s superintendent said Wednesday.

The parents of 14-year-old Tommy Brindley said the boy nearly suffocated before freeing himself about 15 minutes later.

It happened Feb. 19 at the elementary/middle school in Oran, a town of about 1,000 residents 120 miles south of St. Louis. The Oran School District has 370 students and two schools.

Tommy was in detention for being late to school three times, his father, Larry Brindley said. He began acting up during detention.

“He has attention deficit disorder, and he was misbehaving,” Larry Brindley said. “He had some kind of a sponge and was throwing it. He wasn’t being mean. He was just being ornery.”

The teacher, a 21-year veteran of the district, “just kind of snapped,” Brindley said.

Superintendent Tom Anderson said the teacher, whose name was not released, directed two other students to help her tape Tommy to his desk.

The students and the teacher used duct tape to bind Tommy’s hands and feet together and tape his body to the desk. The tape was also placed over his mouth, Anderson said.

And people wonder what my issue with public schools is. Ok – I know not all teachers are this stupid and impulsive – – and this is the first time, after all, that I’ve heard of a teacher duct taping the kid to the desk – – it’s not the action, however, it’s the attitude. Teachers, some – not all, don’t know how – – and eventually, don’t want to, deal with kids who don’t fit into their disciplinary box.

What I want to know is why this teacher wasn’t brought up on charges immediately. Could you imagine if a parent would have done this to a kid in their own home? Child Protective Services and cops would be milling all over that home and charging the parents with neglect, abuse…or some other such thing. This teacher worked for two days after this incident – – before she resigned the following week.

A simple resignation isn’t enough – I hope the family sues the shit out of the district. The teacher should lose her certification – be disallowed from teaching in any state, anywhere – ever. She should be brought up on abuse charges – – reckless endangerment (what if there had been a fire?) and anything else they can throw at her. Do you know how much it had to hurt to rip that duct tape off his mouth?

It’s this kind of shit that makes me intolerant as fuck.

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19 thoughts on “When in doubt…Duct Tape!”

  1. I think it is overly kind of the parent to state that the “teacher just kind of snapped” – – I think she completely lost her grip on reality – – Let alone she had other students take part in the bonding of the child – – This is horrific. Whatever happened to calling the parents of a misbehaving student? Whatever happened to timeout? Whatever happened to knowing right from wrong? Does this teacher have absolutely no common sense? I seriously doubt this is the first time this teacher has done something like this during his/her 21 year career……. This is just the first time anyone is hearing about it!

  2. I think it was the administration that brushed it off, saying that she just snapped. The parents on the other hand, are considering filing criminal charges.

    considering? I’d be doing it the day it happened.

  3. Geoff – I have no doubt your folks would have lol

    My folks, on the other hand, even back then – would have been down at the school raising all kinds of hell!

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  5. frankly i’m not buying the ADD crap. i think that’s the biggest cop-out for “total lack of parenting”. i think the teacher went a little too far, but i’m not without sympathy since it seems that teachers have no power anymore to maintain order.

  6. Well, jimmy – you’re dead wrong on the “ADD Crap”. While ADD may be the most over diagnosed disease in the world – – it’s an easy label for kids who are unruly….at the same time, it’s a true disorder to the highest degree.

    I’m the parent of an ADD child – and it is not due to “total lack of parenting”, thank you very much 🙂 He’s shown ADD behaviors since almost day ONE (I have the grey hairs to prove it)

    Much like disorders like dyslexia…ADD can be overcome with the right tools and learning strategies. It’s taken a long while for my son to learn to compensate for his problems — but today he’s running a 3.5 GPA (his report card yesterday earned him a spot on the honor roll) . . and no one is more proud of him than himself – with the sole exception of me. It’s been a very very long struggle to get to this point – – you cannot just brush away ADD as crap parenting.

    And Teachers have no power? They do – but some just choose not to use it. That power is to pick up the phone and inform the parents on what is going on. The minute you start taking the consequences of bad behavior at school…and extend those consequences into the home, and vice versa – – it becomes so much easier for teacher and parent alike.

    /rant. 🙂

  7. Lisa, I could not find your email address on your site and I wanted to ask you something. If you want you can leave the address in my Guestbook and choose the entry to be private – that way only I will see it.

  8. Now that I have read the whole thing, and not just Geoff’s summary, it’s even more disturbing. The teacher should not only spend time in jail for what she did, but for “teaching” the students that helped her that it was appropriate as well.

    I don’t know who Geoff is trying to fool, but our parents would never have “applauded” her actions, in fact they would have been sickened by them, as would anyone.

  9. Having been a victim of child abuse, it disturbs beyond reason to hear this story. Yet all that will be done, is have her resign? She could have killed him, from suffocation alone. Do they not realise the severity of this?

    P.S. Lisa, I agree with every word of your rant up there. Congratulations on your son’s achievement.

  10. Teacher power comes from the teacher. It’s not the kids. If you want to gain power over a class, then you can. You be forceful. You use the tools at your disposal. It may turn you into a total asshole, but at least the kids will sit when told.

    I know kids that will do whatever they are allowed. These are the kids that I want to duct tape to a chair. But I am not their teacher. A teacher actually taping a kid to their chair is absolutely disturbing.

    Detentions. ISS. OSS (although I’ve never understood why it’s considered “punishment”). Alternative Education Program (AEP). There are options, even besides callng the parents (which should be done as soon as a detention is given).

    I teach at my martial arts center. And the kids respect me, because I make them. You don’t have to tape them to anything to do that.

  11. To you people who are criticizing the teacher… What the HELL do you know about what happened?? Were you THERE?? Do you believe EVERYTHING the media tells you? Do you think it’s possible that the newspaper articles were wrong?? The kid doesn’t just have ADD. He belongs in an institution. Take a look at the town now… almost the whole town supports the teacher. That should tell you something about the kid. He is dangerous and has been known to bite. I’m not condoning what the teacher did, but shame on you for judging someone when you have NO IDEA what went on.

  12. If the kid belongs in an institution for behaviors that are beyond the reach of the school – – then again, the teachers and the schools failed him, and his family, for not taking appropriate action and getting him the appropriate help he needs – – no, instead the teacher duct tapes him to the desk.

    Perfect way to deal with a kid with those types of issues – – fuel his anger.

    I still contend the teacher was incredibly wrong in doing so – – she has/had no right.

    Oh and by the way? I can make judgements however I want – – you, on the other hand, don’t have to agree. That’s the beauty of a free society, ya know?

  13. The school and teacher have no power to put him in an institution where he can get help. it’s the parents’ job, and they refuse to do it. instead they leave him in a system where all they can do is put up with his abuse of the other students and the teachers until it’s time to go home. before you decide who’s to blame on his placement in public schools, why don’t you inform yourself of who has the say in keeping him there?

  14. So the school just ‘puts up’ with this kids abuse of other students? What do the parents of those other students have to say about that? If he’s so violent, why wouldn’t they involve the local authorities? If my kids school was allowing another ‘violent’ student who ‘belongs in an institution’ to ‘abuse’ my children – you’d bet they’d be hearing from me.

    The school doesn’t sound very proactive to me at all, if what you are saying is true.

    Be that as it may – I don’t care what the kids problems are. No teacher, anywhere would get away with duct tapping my kid to a desk. If he got that bad, I would expect that teacher to take appropriate action and NOT abuse my child. Sorry, the teacher totally let the ball hit the floor on this one. YOu’ll not convince me otherwise.

  15. Most likely the kid was a total asshole and had been for a long time. I’ve taught fourteen year olds, and they are the TOUGHEST age to deal with in school. They’re rather immature and disrespectful. With twelve year olds, you get the immaturity, but you get the respect. With sixteen year olds, you get the maturity but perhaps not the respect. With fourteen year olds, you get neither.

    I support this teacher. Bringing back corporal punishment would cure a lot of problems.

  16. My daughter was a 2nd grader at Buffalo Elementary School in Wayne County, West Virginia. Her teacher duct taped her mouth shut for talking thru 3 classes and made her sit like that. When my daughter got home, her mouth was red and had places all around it, but she was laughing about it. The teacher made a joke about it after she realized the damage she had done. The Board Of Education would not talk to me, the principal said to me “lets not make a big deal out of this”. I finally contacted the WV State Police, they did a background check, told me this was battery and talked to the board of education and it was only then that the board of education contacted me. They suspended this teacher for 3 days without pay and it was all kept quiet. She is still there teaching. My daughter has ADHD and is now suffering from this incident mentally. How can this go on in schools? If we did this to our children CPS would be in our home. This teacher also had two children. I worked at the jail as an officer and the last thing I wanted to see was her children having to see their mother in jail, which the State Police was ready and willing to charge her, but at that time my daughter was ok. But had she had a latex allergy, the duct tape could have killed her. What do you think? Any suggestions?

  17. What they did not say is the real reason she snapped. When the teacher tried to scold the student, he grabbed a pair of scissors off her desk and attempted to stab her. The district has had problems with this entire family. One of the older brothers was caught breaking into the school and stealing from the snack machine room. Another brother was suspended for threatening to kill a teacher and students. Was what she did right? Definantly not. But in a situation like that, its hard to say exactly what any of us would have done.

  18. I am with Geoff. If we had acted up in class when I was a child, we wouldn’t have been able to sit for a week. These days parents let their kids run wild, and teachers have no right to punish. My kids are teens/grown, but they never acted up. I would have beat their asses, and they KNEW it.

    Go teacher. Mom & Dad, quit blaming ADD, the school, the environment etc and whip your kids ass.

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