DENVER - A mother said a secretary at her 6-year-old son's school placed duct tape on his mouth and taped his wrists together. Ashlye Tenner said her son, Joshua Fredericks, had been sent to the principal's office at Palmer Elementary School Wednesday because he had been acting up in class. It appears the first-grader continued his antics in the main office in front of the secretary. Tenner said the secretary then took discipline too far. She said the secretary placed duct tape over Joshua's mouth and taped his wrists together. "I don't care how rowdy he is, if he was bouncing from one end of the school to the next, you don't tape up another person's child, ever," Tenner said. Denver Public Schools did not directly confirm the incident but did say an investigation is under way at Palmer, and an employee there is on paid administrative leave. The incident itself is troubling enough, Tenner said, but she said the principal's handling of the case is as disturbing. "The police weren't called until I came back (Thursday) morning," she said. "When I came (Thursday) morning, the secretary was still at her desk." The school principal, Liz Trujillo, sent a letter home to parents Thursday telling them "allegations of misconduct" have been made. To Tenner, this misconduct is really child abuse. "It's not acceptable," she said. Thursday, Denver Public Schools released a two-sentence statement saying the district was working with Denver Police on the case. The statement also called the allegations "troubling." "The district is working the Denver Police Department in investigating the matter, and the employee has been placed on administrative leave. This is a very troubling allegation that will be investigated thoroughly, and we will take strong action to address the matter if the allegations are substantiated," Denver Public Schools said in its statement. Tenner hopes the secretary is fired and repercussions lie ahead for the principal. Source
Firing the secretary is appropriate in this case. she went too far. the fact that the principal didn't do anything afterward is also a concern. it appeared as if s/he condone such discipline of young kids which is wrong. if anything, i think the principal should be demoted or forced to resign. s/he obviously set a bad example for the rest of the school faculty and staffs.
Yes, kids can be rowdy, and won't listen to authority, but to tape his mouth and wrists? Unacceptable. A time out in a class room or some sort of small room would have been more appropriate.
^ sounds like those people being abducted in the drama series .. tape their mouth and wrists .. what was she thinking?
Has anyone ever had a stuffy nose? Taping someone's mouth shut ALWAYS runs the risk of asphyxiation (kidnap victims sometimes suffocate and die because their captors don't realize that mucus builds up in the nasal passages, effectively shutting off air flow). The fact that this school secretary decided to administer her own brand of discipline to a child when she isn't even considered an educator is mind boggling. Further, the acting or leading authority of the school, that is, the principal failed in her duty to protect one of her charges from the flagrant abuse by an employee, and then compounds this with the failure to report the incident. Rather than just being fired, the secretary needs to be arrested and charged with battery, false imprisonment, and child abuse. The principal needs to be brought up on departmental (and or state) charges for failure to act. I don't know about Denver, but in New York, certain professional positions are legally mandated to report cases of child abuse or neglect, and educators rank near the top of that list. -detect
^ i think the midwest and southern still tolerate such drastic discipline of kids .. i read that they still believe in hitting the kids and stuffs .. the sys is very different from the coastal regions .. that's why they're mostly republicans .. lol
