A mother of an 11-year-old is speaking out after a text exchange in which he sent her a photograph of his mouth taped shut by his middle school teacher in Johnston, North Carolina.
The incident unfolded on February 14, but Catherine Webster didn’t say anything about it until a police investigation was completed.
She said that her son Brady had sent her the photo while he was attending Smithfield Middle School. The photo was obtained by WRAL-TV and showed numerous strips of painter’s tape over the boy’s mouth all the way up to his eyes.
“I asked, ‘What is that? Who did that?’” Webster told WRAL. “And, he didn’t respond.”
Webster says her son can be a class clown and very talkative, but she says taping his mouth shut was an inappropriate way to deal with him.
She says that the school began an investigation after she told LaShunda Faisonm, the school’s principal. The boy indicated that it was not the first time the teacher had taped his mouth shut and also that the teacher had done so to other students. He also said that the teacher had tied students’ wrists together with the painter’s tape.
Johnston County Public Schools said that the teacher resigned several days after the incident was reported.
The district released a statement about the incident.
“Johnston County Public Schools takes any allegations of staff misconduct seriously,” the district said.
“Although we cannot discuss the specifics of an investigation into alleged staff misconduct, we can confirm that whenever such allegations arise, our administration responds swiftly, by investigating the allegations and, sometimes, by removing staff from classrooms pending completion of a thorough review,” the statement continued. “School administrators are always able and willing to speak with any and all parents who may have concerns regarding any issue that occurs.”
The school said that the teacher had been recently hired in August.
Police told WRAL that there was not enough evidence to press charges against the former teacher, despite there being other accusations from separate parents.
“I want to know who is going to be held accountable, so this doesn’t happen again,” Webster said.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
i was a horrible talker in school…and got into trouble all the time for it…i think my mouth was taped also…..but what can a teacher do when the kid wont listen and shut the heck up……if my mother had heard about my mouth being taped i would have gotten a spanking first and then she would tape my mouth as long as i dont have a breathing issue…now taping the hands that is another thing…
But painters tape is super thin and easy to rip off. I bet there’s way more to the story. The kids probably thought it was all funny and harmless. I feel for the poor teacher. Kids need strict discipline at home so they’ll respect authority away from home.
All I can say is this is typical of the public school system in America and with the leftist teachers unions across the country nothing is getting accomplished teachers are out of control because of it the kids are the ones suffering reading , math, science, history, English literature all of it gone you can blame the Teachers Unions that weingarten person is to blame with her racist crt and trans crap fyi weingarten their are two sexes only women and males your trans ideology and the leftist lgbtq community get over yourselves we the parents despite garland are the ones who decide what our children learn we are NOT DOMESTIC Terrorists do not sic your leftist thugs on us! To the idiot who thinks he’s in charge of the dept of education read my lips we the parents and grandparents know what’s best for our children not you so back the F off!! Defund the Corrupt public school system in America! Let’s go commie joe!