Australia: School tapes noisy children's mouths shut

[sabra]

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1422541.htm

School tapes noisy children's mouths shut

Police are investigating allegations that staff at a Catholic primary school in New South Wales taped children's mouths shut to keep them quiet.

The school at the centre of the allegations is Francis Xavier's Catholic Primary School in Wollongong, south of Sydney.

Chief Inspector Mark Lavers from Wollongong police says a number of children were making noise while rehearsals for a performance were taking place.

He says a maintenance person cut up 20 pieces of masking tape to place over the children's mouths.

Inspector Lavers says one child had an adverse reaction to the tape and one parent complained.

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[Ladyhawk]

1. That happened all the time at my school.

Students were taped to their seats, too, using entire rolls of masking tape. The "board of education" was used daily.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Sure, I remember 'the strap' and other punishments

But duct tape? That seems a little too weird and.... twisted.

[Ladyhawk]

14. It was all weird, IMHO. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

2. I wonder how many people are going..

"Woo-hoo, way to go!... uh..... I mean, shocking, just terrible".

There seems to be a rash of day-care centers and schools that are doing these kind of things.

Where does this come from? (And if anyone mentions the word 'moral', I'm going to smack them. People have used that word to excuse abominable behavior before and these people beleived they were moral).

[VPStoltz]

9. That would be me, oh, I mean a friend of mine.

If you're not a teacher in a public school you have NO idea how much you wish there was something - just something - you could do with the "chatting" element. I am a "specialist" in a public school system and see almost 500 students each week. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop those who have learned at home that talking to whomever, whenever, however, is perfectly o.k.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I lower my voice

and speak barely above a whisper.

25 years experience getting kids to shut up and listen - trust me, this method works. And it's easy on MY vocal chords. :)

[Canuckistanian]

13. My wife is a teacher but this......

She has mentioned exactly what she would do to certain students if given a chance... but actually going through with it is quite another matter.

[noamnety]

4. On the Day of Silence at our school

(a day of silent protest for the GLBT community) we ran out of the ribbons to signal to teachers that the student was participating in it and wouldn't be speaking for the day. Students came up with the idea of duct taping their own mouths shut.

[whistle]

5. Say now, that is what I call progressive education....

....what measure will be taken next, sending out the Australian secret police to round up the children's families as degenerates, ship them off to concentration camps, where they'll be gassed and burned in ovens?

[Carni]

6. I spent most of the first grade

Standing at the front of the room with masking tape over my mouth.

As an adult if I ever encounter that teacher you may read about it in the papers.

[BikeWriter]

7. Haven't they noticed they use those to breathe, too?

It is extremely unsafe to block even one of one's airways.

[barb162]

18. yeah, especially if the kid has a cold or allergies

[BikeWriter]

19. Exactly!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. In my 3rd grade class in 1959 the teacher tied a kid to his chair and....

...taped his mouth shut. When he had to go pee, he tried to tell the teacher but she threatened to have him paddled if he made any more noise.

I'll never forget the tears rolling down that kid's face as the pee puddled around his desk and shoes, and I'll never forget the kids that laughed at him.

The teacher took a "vacation" for the next week...without pay. She didn't return the next year.

I'm always amazed at the cruelty people can inflict on those that can't defend themselves.

[barb162]

15. the diff between your school and mine was the teacher was

back for several more years and doing the same damn thing

[deadparrot]

10. Well, my eighth grade teacher

threw several kids into the trash can and grabbed my friend by the arm and flung her against a row of lockers.

Also a Catholic school.

[barb162]

17. 3rd grade kids at my school had bruises from the teacher's beatings

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Masking tape?

That ain't nuthin. I use duct tape. And I have a whip - with hooks on the end. :sarcasm:

[FreedomAngel82]

16. That's just nuts!

Especially the kid who got a reaction to it! When I was in elementary school if you missbehaved we either stayed in from recess (depending on what you did for how long) and/or wrote what you did wrong a hundred or so times. Not doing that! :crazy: