As someone who has suffered from PTSD I find it appalling that it has gotten so commonplace as to be a catchall anywhere (apparently in Australia).
God forbid any of these kids or parents ever find out what the real thing is like.
Gee, I was getting “taped” all the way back in nursery school and I thought it was darn funny. Still do.
In the big picture, I suppose so but it’s way different to have my life organised that I am homeschooling. When we would shlep him off to school and never know if we were going to have to pull out of study or work to go and get him because he’d spun out of control in the classroom, it was hard to be organised and together. Now my job is my kid. Sure I’d like it if the school could get their act together so that my kid was both learning and working well but that so far has not been the case. It’s easier for me this way and I feel less ‘punished’.
I also strongly feel that if he acted up in school then the consequence needed to be in the school setting instead of him getting days off.
did you even read the thread? Suspension is a standard method in Australian schools. Nobody is going to sue over suspension or over a kid being removed from a classroom if there is merit to the decision. Expulsion still happens here too.
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**Remember the days when parents and teachers worked TOGETHER? **
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Yes. Just this past year I met with my son’s teachers on a daily basis and we had weekly meetings as well. We worked together a lot but in the end we basically disagreed on how to make things work
Our experiences obviously differ then. I think we both may be right. I know what I experienced is true, and I believe that what you experienced is true… Maybe there’s a middle ground, or we just have experiences with radically different schools.
Nevertheless, I think we both agree on the following :
a) Taping a child’s mouth closed is unacceptable in today’s society
b) The teacher should’ve been disciplined at the time
c) The PTSD is bullshit, and probably being flung around for the purpose of compensation.
The problem is, Goo, I’m not so convinced that taping a kids mouth IS all that unacceptable. Sure, the teacher needs to be VERY careful about who is taped, but given the severity of punishments of the past, IMHO it is fairly tame. I just think there has been a major overreaction. This modern propensity to scream and shout over what should be regarded as trivial events is driving me apeshit.
I would rather my kid had been taped than given the strap, or sent out of the class.
I agree that there has been a major overreaction.
As to whether or not the taping was appropriate, well every man and his dog will have a different opinion on that. 
I think it is humiliating and has too great a potential to go wrong (i.e, bad head cold and unable to breathe through the nose, etc…). I have no issues with the strap, and would’ve preferred to receive that over a detention (it was over quickly) any day. I know lots of people think corporal punishment is evil. There will always be a huge variety of opinions on the issues of discipline of another’s child. You stated that you’d prefer a taping over the strap, whereas I’d choose the strap every time. Another would only want to see time-outs. Each to their own.
I was of the opinion that in today’s society, the general consensus seems to be that any punishment that involves contact is not acceptable (caning, the strap, hitting, taping, etc). 16 years ago is another story.
When I was in 7th grade my gym teacher made me and another girl run extra laps in front of the whole class because we “needed it anyway.”
Oops, hit the button too soon.
I wouldn’t have sued for PTSD or anything nutty like that but I wish I’d had the presence of mind to talk to the BOE.
Goo
I’m uncertain without knowing the full story that I totally agree that suing is out of line. It very much depends on the child and whether or not the child has an anxiety disorder or whatever. I know that’s unlikely but if it were my child and that had been done, then PTSD could have been the result. And then you’d all be talking about me as this loony parent <G>.
I’d want to know the full story before I said, hey absolutely these parents are out of line. Chances are, they are and they’ve managed to find some lawyers who are equally out of line but just possibly there’s a grain of truth in the story?
Fair enough, I concede that they may not be loony parents, and there may be a legitimate case of PTSD.
I will remain sceptical however, until more details are brought to light purely because the average child wouldn’t suffer from PTSD from being taped. I don’t deny that these children may be suffering from PTSD, but find it highly unlikely.
{{{{{{{{{{{Broomstick}}}}}}}}}}}}
Unless the teacher also put vaseline or some kind of gel on the kids’ lower faces before applying the tape, there would be some kind of physical injury, from the removal of the tape. NOT an injury that justifies a claim of PTSD. But an injury nonetheless.
I dunno.
I agree that the teacher may have been out of line but…
a) if you have a kid with an anxiety disorder in your classroom, you usually know about it - parents have told you, called a special meeting at the beginning of the year… that sort of thing.
b) if you have a kid with a life-threatening allergy, you also know about it. Usually, the entire staff is aware of the condition, since things usually tend to go wrong at recess, if they’re going to go wrong at all.
c) the shy, nervous, anxious, timid kids aren’t usually the ones who end up being “taped”. If their self-esteem is low, it’s a good chance that just the teacher looking at them sternly will shut them up. It’s the obnoxious, confident kids (like I was!) that push the teachers to boil over and do things like that…
Now I’m not saying that children deserve having their mouths taped shut. Not at all. I’m not advocating that… But I’m simply pointing out that the typical “victim” of these things aren’t the kids who would react adversly to the point of PTSD…
There are exceptions, such as in Broomstick’s case. At that point, I’m pretty sure that teacher had MANY other problems with the kids.
Without knowing all the facts, it’s hard to tell. Maybe this teacher has a history of telling the kids all sorts of nasty things (belittling, etc.) and now parents are screaming “That’s enough.”
Or maybe someone taped their little precious darling’s mouth shut - that little darling who can do no wrong - and they’re miffed about it.
Hard to tell.
E.
Bad choice on the teacher’s part, definitely. I can’t venture to say if the kid in question has issues still related to it; it’s possible, although PTSD is a bit over the top compared to what emotional repercussions I would expect. Frankly, if I had a student with PTSD–and I worked with a few–I’d wonder what was happening at HOME.
The real bummer to me as a teacher was that not only did I have few resources as far as discipline and parental support went, I was taking a risk by even HUGGING my students. And believe me, I never met kids who needed hugged more than some of these kids. (I hugged 'em anyway. Some rules are unwritten for a reason.)
I agree that the course of action that the teacher took was stupid, but it would be nice to know the full story as well. One would imagine that the kid who getting his mouth taped would have been a real shit to deserve it, but what parent is going to admit to that?
The same people who think their kids have PTSD from one instance of mouth-taping are akin to those who think occasional bum-smacking for disobediant children is just not on!
Also, why has it taken so long for this issue to surface?
I blame the parents.
If they had kept calm and not made a big deal out of it, the children wouldn’t even remember the incident by now. But no, they had to start screaming and kicking up a fuss, and so the kids have been playing along with that, since that’s what the parents seem to want - at least, that’s my unqualified opinion after watching (and scoffing) at the same article. That kid with the so-called PTSD was a sad looking little guy, but I got the feeling he’d agree with anything the adults said.
When I was in primary school, much the same age as those kids, my teacher put tape on my mouth. Granted, I wasn’t asthmatic but since none of those children had an attack, I don’t really think that made an impact here. Anyway, the teacher was laughing - not in a mean-spirited way, but in the manner of a shared joke. I laughed too, and stopped talking. She made her point, and did it in a manner that was not aggressive. Therefore, I don’t believe that “taping a student’s mouth closed” is automatically an act of aggression or assault.
Anyway, back to the “news” article… I noticed that one person was saying they were forced to stand in front of the class for 20 or 30 minutes, and another claimed it was 45 minutes. I think it would be perfectly natural for those kids to exaggerate their story once a parent showed alarm and pushed for details - kids often give the answers that parents want. If we actually spoke to the kids involved, I’m sure we would find more inconsistancies in their stories.
Having listened to all of my kids tell me their ‘version’ of the reason they got into strife/detention/suspended, and then heard the teachers/co-ordinators/principals story, I’ve gotta say that kids tend to ever-so-slightly embellish their recollection of events. And parents on a crusade (especially with a possible pay-out in mind) will certainly have a reason to believe their kids’ rendition.
Won’t somebody think of the poor teachers?