CA - Bakersfield High School Teacher Duct Tapes Student

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- According to Kern High School District officials, a local student was duct taped by his teacher last week when he failed to follow his teacher's request to stop interrupting class.

According to school officials, the young man was making noises with his mouth and hands when his teacher, Carol Humphrey, warned him to behave. After failing to comply with his teachers request, Humphrey proceeded to put duct tape over his mouth and fingers.



John Teves of the Kern High School District said Humphrey thought it would be funny to address the boy ' s disruptiveness by using the tape. Fellow classmates laughed at the situation and took cell phone pictures, but officials said the boy was not amused.

Humphrey asked the boy to stay after class to help him remove the tape, but the young man reported the incident to school officials instead.

Officials said she has been working with the district for more than 30 years, and they have never had any disciplinary problems with her.

While the case is not considered a criminal matter, Humphrey was placed on administrative leave and will not return to class until the school investigation is complete.

He was probably making farting noises. Maybe the teacher doesn't know you can't get duct tape off very easy. She's never had a problem in 30 years. Maybe it's time she retires and the kid go to the VP office. LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Ohhh they may not have had problems with her but you can bet some parents may have. I do believe I'd have to return the favor and hope it pulled some skin off of her if she dared to do that to my child.

Why didn't she just send him to the principal's office?

When I was in elementary school (in the late 70's) I had my mouth taped shut at times, and also they'd put a box on my desk so I couldn't see any other students and therefore had to concentrate on my work. I was a bit "chatty" if you couldn't guess.

I thought we were done using painful and shaming methods of getting students to comply?

Obviously she had to do something, but this seems awfully over the top.

I don't know-this kid is in high school-you'd think he'd have learned to sit down and shut up by now. He didn't have any problem talking while the teacher was teaching but couldn't open his mouth and say-no I don't want duct tape on my mouth?

If this was a 6 year old I'd feel bad but when you're in high school you ought to be able to behave properly in class. If it were my kid I'd probably tell him he got what he deserved for not listening to the teacher and make him apologize for disrupting the class. But that's just me-as my 2 year old will tell you I'm the meanest Mommy in the world.

Becca

:laugh: :laugh:

beakiebean said:

I don't know-this kid is in high school-you'd think he'd have learned to sit down and shut up by now. He didn't have any problem talking while the teacher was teaching but couldn't open his mouth and say-no I don't want duct tape on my mouth?

If this was a 6 year old I'd feel bad but when you're in high school you ought to be able to behave properly in class. If it were my kid I'd probably tell him he got what he deserved for not listening to the teacher and make him apologize for disrupting the class. But that's just me-as my 2 year old will tell you I'm the meanest Mommy in the world.

Becca

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:clap:

My grandson's teacher turned me into CPS last year using a duct tape incident as an excuse to include the fact that we hadn't put him on ritalin stimulant for ADD which she and the whole bunch thought he should be taking. It's not legal to turn someone in for not giving these medications and no one can force it on a person. This woman had to grill and badger my grandson to even remember my husband just threatening to put duct tape on one of their mouths for throwing a screaming temper tantrum. I'm glad this is the only thing he could even think of that we might have done, but if I can be turned in for just mentioning duct tape but not using it, why can't this teacher be turned into CPS? Not a thing will be done to her. She's getting a nice vacation.

beakiebean said:

I don't know-this kid is in high school-you'd think he'd have learned to sit down and shut up by now. He didn't have any problem talking while the teacher was teaching but couldn't open his mouth and say-no I don't want duct tape on my mouth?

If this was a 6 year old I'd feel bad but when you're in high school you ought to be able to behave properly in class. If it were my kid I'd probably tell him he got what he deserved for not listening to the teacher and make him apologize for disrupting the class. But that's just me-as my 2 year old will tell you I'm the meanest Mommy in the world.

Becca

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Becca I like your style. That is exactly what I would have said and done!

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I am not taking up for the teacher and I don't know whether that is a generally good teacher or a bad one. Certainly you would hope he could find a different way to deal with that child but at the same time I think the kid got what he deserved. He was repeatedly asked to stop and didn't. We aren't talking about a grade school kid; this was a conscious effort on his part to disrupt the class and piss the teacher off. If the teacher is fired or severly disciplined, that child will learn that you can treat authority figures any way that you want and no one will have the guts to correct you or make you behave appropriately. If the school stands behind the teacher, maybe that kid will think before he opens his big mouth again. Maybe he might be worried that there will be a consequence for his action....(Going to the principals office doesn't actually count as a consequence; that's a badge of honor and a desired result of his behavior).

I have an ADHD child and I know how exasperating it can truly be for me to deal with that, let alone be a teacher with 25 kids added to it. Not saying at all that the child involved has ADHD or that there couldn't have been some better answer but with the instigator that won't quit there aren't a whole lot of things that will make him quit. Clearly time at the principal's office getting a free pass from a class that he obviously doesn't like is not much of a deterrent. Just the flip side of the coin from me...just my opinion, right or wrong.

We had a duct tape incident at my high school during my freshman year. Back then there was no ban on hazing. A senior on the drum line duct taped a freshman to the flagpole when he wasn't performing to expectations. I think he just got a few detentions of the whole thing, but the school banned hazing of any kind the next week (this was April 2002, long after many other high schools seemed to have banned it).

Starting my junior year we had a probation officer on duty in the school. In the special ed room (in particular the emotional support one) they seemed to use this guy to deal with problems from time to time. Not sure if he would have taken care of one like the duct tape problem we mentioned, although our school also had another policeman who addressed the entire band on the subject of hazing after the duct tape incident and also was on grounds most of the day (he was also my DARE officer in middle school).

Ya know, I taught high school for eleven years. Dealing with noisy kids goes w/ the territory. When I had students who liked to make noises (as described in the article) and they wouldn't stop, they became my "story helpers." I would read aloud and point to them when I got to a certain sound and they had to make the noise. They had to pay attention or everybody laughed at them for getting the noise wrong and everyone enjoyed the story more.
For example, stories about King Arthur include:
horses clippity clop/neighing/snorting
schwing, schwing of swords clashing
grunting and heavy breathing
dying noises
etc. . . .
Sometimes I'd give everyone in the class a noise to make--it works great and the "kids" are involved. I used this w/ 10th - 12th grades w/ great success in special ed classes all the way up to honors.
There are easy ways to deal with students without degrading them or yourself. I wish more teachers would understand that!

beakiebean said:

I don't know-this kid is in high school-you'd think he'd have learned to sit down and shut up by now. He didn't have any problem talking while the teacher was teaching but couldn't open his mouth and say-no I don't want duct tape on my mouth?

If this was a 6 year old I'd feel bad but when you're in high school you ought to be able to behave properly in class. If it were my kid I'd probably tell him he got what he deserved for not listening to the teacher and make him apologize for disrupting the class. But that's just me-as my 2 year old will tell you I'm the meanest Mommy in the world.

Becca

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I agree with you. Poor little high schooler!!!! Behave in class shut your mouth and this would not be an issue. I have teenagers by the way.

Pandora said:

Ya know, I taught high school for eleven years. Dealing with noisy kids goes w/ the territory. When I had students who liked to make noises (as described in the article) and they wouldn't stop, they became my "story helpers." I would read aloud and point to them when I got to a certain sound and they had to make the noise. They had to pay attention or everybody laughed at them for getting the noise wrong and everyone enjoyed the story more.
For example, stories about King Arthur include:
horses clippity clop/neighing/snorting
schwing, schwing of swords clashing
grunting and heavy breathing
dying noises
etc. . . .
Sometimes I'd give everyone in the class a noise to make--it works great and the "kids" are involved. I used this w/ 10th - 12th grades w/ great success in special ed classes all the way up to honors.
There are easy ways to deal with students without degrading them or yourself. I wish more teachers would understand that!

Click to expand...

Very Creative!

beakiebean said:

I don't know-this kid is in high school-you'd think he'd have learned to sit down and shut up by now. He didn't have any problem talking while the teacher was teaching but couldn't open his mouth and say-no I don't want duct tape on my mouth?

If this was a 6 year old I'd feel bad but when you're in high school you ought to be able to behave properly in class. If it were my kid I'd probably tell him he got what he deserved for not listening to the teacher and make him apologize for disrupting the class. But that's just me-as my 2 year old will tell you I'm the meanest Mommy in the world.

Becca

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You bet your bottom dollar I'd have said the same thing to my kid.

My son, who has ADHD, has been told by the prinicipal that if he doesn't get it together he's gonna put his shoe up my son's arse. My son came home saying "the prinicpal threatened" him. Good. I told my son, "Oh yeah. Well I told Mr. XXXX to go ahead if you disrupted the class again." (my son and another kid were smacking each other with rulers). My son's in 8th grade. He knows better.

Yeah, let's call the authorities on her. That'll solve everything. The real problem is these children fear nothing. Why should they? Parents and teachers are threatened continuously. What does that teach the kid? That if they act up the adult gets in trouble? Then they turn around and behave the EXACT same way again. Then it's why don't these parents/teachers get control of the kid?

It took her 30 years to break? How much of a disruption was he? A MAJOR one obviously. How about they focus on that. Where are the headlines that say, "Teacher with 30 years of experience risks job and reputation over a rotten student!" Where are those headlines? No he's the victim. OF WHAT! Duct tape? Here's a headline, "Male student acts like little girl over duct tape because he didn't get his way!"

They're both equal victims here. Both are victims of HIS behavior. She just tried to resolve it. Maybe not in the way I would personally like, but this is an older woman who goes back to the days of an old fashioned butt whooping. And that is EXACTLY what he deserves for:

A. Disrupting Class, and
B. Acting like an immature baby about the entire incident

And yes, if it was my kid I would've told him sit down and shut up next time. I would've called the teacher and asked her next time to send him to the office instead trying to argue with him. AND then I would've made my son go back and apologize for acting up. What happened to people being able to resolve things between each other? Are we incapable of this anymore? Then we act shocked our kids have no people skills as young adults.

He's in high school. He should know better.

/rant off

Pandora said:

Ya know, I taught high school for eleven years. Dealing with noisy kids goes w/ the territory. When I had students who liked to make noises (as described in the article) and they wouldn't stop, they became my "story helpers." I would read aloud and point to them when I got to a certain sound and they had to make the noise. They had to pay attention or everybody laughed at them for getting the noise wrong and everyone enjoyed the story more.
For example, stories about King Arthur include:
horses clippity clop/neighing/snorting
schwing, schwing of swords clashing
grunting and heavy breathing
dying noises
etc. . . .
Sometimes I'd give everyone in the class a noise to make--it works great and the "kids" are involved. I used this w/ 10th - 12th grades w/ great success in special ed classes all the way up to honors.
There are easy ways to deal with students without degrading them or yourself. I wish more teachers would understand that!

Click to expand...

This is a great idea. Do you mind if I steal it to use in my 11th grade classes? They're college prep English; this sounds like it would definitely keep them engaged.

It is hard work being a teacher. You get paid squat to put up with smart mouthed, know it all brats all day who undermine you and don't listen to anything you say (not all kids are like that before anyone gets mad) Then after dealing with them, you have to deal with their parents whining and complaining b/c suzie is failing and you sent johnny to the office. their kids never do anything wrong. If you discipline a black student you are called in by his parents for being racisit. If a male teacher failing a female it got to be that you are sexist. It is never the kids fault. i say good for the teacher for doing this. She was probably at wits end and had enough of this kid. Maybe it's time we got back to embarassing kids into behaving. Maybe its time for some accountability on the kids part and the parents part. Your kids suffer daily b/c of all the disruptions by kids like him. Kids like this deprive yours of an education. Always remember that.

I wanted to add:

Where I teach there was a similar incident last year. I don't want to go into too many details, but I will say the incident included a marker (washable), the student's face, and a written suggestion to sit down and be quiet. The teacher was suspended. The student continued to disrupt class when she returned.

I still think it's a poor choice, but I can see how a teacher who gets no support from administration or parents would get frustrated and take drastic measures. A high school student should be able to conduct him/herself in class appropriately, but kids today...you just don't know until you've been there.

I get more frustrated at parents than at students. Students, even juniors and seniors, are still children who are being taught how to live in the world. Many parents now are very unwilling to let their kids take responsibility for their own actions, citing how Junior would never lie or steal or cheat or cuss, so the teacher must be picking on him/her or making up stories about their precious baby. Kids make mistakes and poor choices, and they do lie and steal and cheat and cuss, but if parents don't let the kids take responsibility, the kids learn nothing.

Duct tape fixes everything - even mouthy, disobeying children!


The duct tape mostly used today doesn't hurt coming off the skin like duct tape of old used to. I know, because I use it on my boyfriend sometimes. It's not as "sticky".

GlitchWizard said:

Duct tape fixes everything - even mouthy, disobeying children!


The duct tape mostly used today doesn't hurt coming off the skin like duct tape of old used to. I know, because I use it on my boyfriend sometimes. It's not as "sticky".

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Gitch, I think your duct tape exploits with the boyfriend are for a different forum! Lol!:blushing:

I agree about parents not teaching the kids responsibility.

This teacher made a bad choice. Period. I understand what she's up against, trying to teach and being continually distracted, but it's still a bad choice. If it was my kid, I'd say discipline him all you want, and I would also discipline him at home, but there are more effective ways to do this. This taught the kid nothing, and if anything, he just holds a huge amount of disdain for this teacher.

I know teachers have it bad. It's hard being an effective teacher, and just as much as there are bratty kids out there, there are teachers who should've never chose teaching as a profession. This womans actions make me question a lot of things about her.

I recently got a phone call home from one of my sons teachers, and it was to THANK me! My son had to get his grade sheet signed by me and returned, and he "forgot" to---it wasn't a bad grade sheet, could've been better, but certainly nothing he would've been disciplined for. Anyway, he decides that it would be best to sign my name for me!!!! AKA FORGERY. The kids are actually graded on whether or not they get their grade sheet signed. A=got it signed / F="forgot" to get it signed. So, I saw that he got an A, remembered I never signed one for that date, and emailed the teacher to let her know that she needed to change his A to an F because HE signed it, not me. My son was NOT happy at all, but imagine if I would've just let it go, and even though I tried explaining that he didn't deserve that A, and so I couldn't let it stand, he was still pissed off. Oh well, too bad, so sad. He also got grounded for forging my signature. Anyway, the teacher was sooo happy that I brought it to her attention, that she wanted to make the A stand!!! It's like, she was trying to reward ME by being honest by keeping the A!!!! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH. I had to argue w/her that he needed and deserved the F!!!! How dumb is that???