Ind. teacher fired for taping shut student's mouth

[danberkeley]

From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/16/national/a140437S19.DTL&tsp=1


Ind. teacher fired for taping shut student's mouth
Friday, January 16, 2009

(01-16) 14:04 PST Lafayette, Ind. (AP) --

A school board in Indiana has fired a middle school teacher who placed duct tape over a special-needs student's mouth to keep him from talking in class.

The board of Tippecanoe School Corp. voted Wednesday to cancel Pamela Dahnke's contract. She was an eighth-grade health and nutrition teacher at Battle Ground Middle School in West Lafayette.

Superintendent Scott Hanback says the September taping incident "cannot be tolerated."

The board also says Dahnke failed to implement the student's program for special needs and that she returned to the school after being told to leave.

The Journal & Courier of Lafayette reported Wednesday that Dahnke said she was unaware the board had made a decision. A call to a listing for Dahnke was not answered Friday.

[Uriel999]

Damn, is it bad I find that funny?

[heavenlyboy34]

"The board also says Dahnke failed to implement the student's program for special needs and that she returned to the school after being told to leave."

I hope this isn't your way of sneakily tarnishing the character of my buddy danke. :O

[heavenlyboy34]

Damn, is it bad I find that funny?

I hope not...I laughed a little too. :eek:

[The_Orlonater]

That teacher should be given an award.

[Danke]

I hope this isn't your way of sneakily tarnishing the character of my buddy danke. :O

No, Danke is a dude.

But Danke approves of taping some people's mouth shut.

[Suzu]

I wish the principal of my grade school had been fired (in the late '50s - early '60s) for scrubbing - with cleanser and a scrub brush, in the janitor's closet - girls' faces for wearing makeup!

[Roxi]

if a teacher taped my childs mouth shut i would go up to the school put duct tape on her mouth and then beat the crap out of her

[Kludge]

I doubt it was as serious as it is being made out. Kid was probably being loud. Teacher told him to shut up. Kid doesn't shut up. Teacher half-jokingly tapes his mouth shut. Kids laugh. Loud kid doesn't mind. Kid goes home. Parents ask if anything interesting happened at school.

"My teacher taped my mouth shut."

"OMG OMG OMG!!! I NEED TO TXT THE PTA ASAP!!!"

"It wasn't bad..."

"Oh my God! Is that what he told you to say? (Hm... He is mentally retarded. Incapable of understanding when a teacher is abusing him...)

I'm calling the news station. This is disgusting! He may as well have raped and beaten you! Oh, Timmy, I'm soo sorry this happened to you!! OH GOD, WHYYYYYY?!!!!! First your Dad runs out on us, then Grandma dies...!!! Can't lose you... Can't lose you...!"


Then a ninja pops out of the wall. Cut to a close-up on the ninja's eyes. Jimmy Stewart flashes the ninja with his camera, and the ninja shouts in Chinese. Fade to black with an audible scuffle. Shoot the Rear Window, and have Stewart fall out in the lamest scene since Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" UFO cuts.

[JeNNiF00F00]

I remember being in the first grade in PE class of all things and my PE teacher taping an out of control boy to his chair and taping his mouth shut for like 5 minutes. Hilarious and the kid didn't act out again after that!

In 2nd grade I was paddled everyday at least once because I had a terrible problem with daydreaming and talking. :P I remember that teacher breaking a ruler on a classmates knuckles. This was an everyday thing.

Kids today would never have survived school back in the day. :D

[heavenlyboy34]

I remember being in the first grade in PE class of all things and my PE teacher taping an out of control boy to his chair and taping his mouth shut for like 5 minutes. Hilarious and the kid didn't act out again after that!

In 2nd grade I was paddled everyday at least once because I had a terrible problem with daydreaming and talking. :P I remember that teacher breaking a ruler on a classmates knuckles. This was an everyday thing.

Kids today would never have survived school back in the day. :D

QFT!! :eek: This kinda reminds me of the spanking thread from a few weeks ago. My principal in grade school kept a giant wood paddle to threaten us students with if we were bad. This was not just a wooden spoon sized paddle, either-it looked like some kind of bizarre S&M contraption! :eek::eek: I think today's kids would cry like babies if they faced situations like the ones we did ("we" being gen x and earlier).

[JeNNiF00F00]

QFT!! :eek: This kinda reminds me of the spanking thread from a few weeks ago. My principal in grade school kept a giant wood paddle to threaten us students with if we were bad. This was not just a wooden spoon sized paddle, either-it looked like some kind of bizarre S&M contraption! :eek::eek: I think today's kids would cry like babies if they faced situations like the ones we did ("we" being gen x and earlier).

My 2nd grade teacher had a paddle too but never used it she just threatened us with it. It had holes in it too. Things pretty much changed after that and none of my teachers after 2nd grade(early 1980s) used corporal punishment.

I saw some reality tv show with kids going to the principles office(pretty funny show). The schools now days are full of BS. There was one though that allowed the students to take corporal punishment(whacks with a paddle) for a 1/2 days worth of saturday detention. Most of the schools are full of BS tho. All I have to say is no wonder these kids can't think for themselves.

[Fox McCloud]

way back when I was in middle-school there was actually a student who didn't want to talk in class, but he often couldn't help himself, so he ductaped his own mouth shut.

once again, voluntarism is essential here....but I have a feeling this wasn't as bad as it was made out to be.

[pinkmandy]

The kid was special needs...why was he in a 'normal' classroom with a teacher who obviously wasn't mentally equipped to deal with him?

I'm w/Roxic- I'd be all over the crap if they did that to my kid. She's f'ing lucky he didn't have asthma or something because that could have killed him.

[SimpleName]

I doubt it was as serious as it is being made out. Kid was probably being loud. Teacher told him to shut up. Kid doesn't shut up. Teacher half-jokingly tapes his mouth shut. Kids laugh. Loud kid doesn't mind. Kid goes home. Parents ask if anything interesting happened at school.

"My teacher taped my mouth shut."

"OMG OMG OMG!!! I NEED TO TXT THE PTA ASAP!!!"


Sounds likely. "Special needs" in this case probably means a kid with big anger problems and some kind of reading disorder. If not, I fear this is a different matter. But that is doubtful since he was just sitting in the classroom.

Nonetheless, I still do not understand the acceptance of violent acts toward children. Slapping around a child for being a child makes about no sense at all. Why don't you accept such action towards adults who actually fully recognize the irritation and/or pain they are causing to others? I do not have children of my own, but I cannot imagine spanking s child with a paddle, whether I want to or not. BOW DOWN TO YOUR MASTER! hmmm...kindda like brainswashed Americans to their growing tyranny of a government.

[kathy88]

My kid needs tape on his mouth.

[kathy88]

The kid was special needs...why was he in a 'normal' classroom with a teacher who obviously wasn't mentally equipped to deal with him?

I'm w/Roxic- I'd be all over the crap if they did that to my kid. She's f'ing lucky he didn't have asthma or something because that could have killed him.


Another reason the public schools suck. INCLUSION and ISPs.

[dannno]

I doubt it was as serious as it is being made out. Kid was probably being loud. Teacher told him to shut up. Kid doesn't shut up. Teacher half-jokingly tapes his mouth shut. Kids laugh. Loud kid doesn't mind. Kid goes home. Parents ask if anything interesting happened at school.

"My teacher taped my mouth shut."

"OMG OMG OMG!!! I NEED TO TXT THE PTA ASAP!!!"

"It wasn't bad..."

"Oh my God! Is that what he told you to say? (Hm... He is mentally retarded. Incapable of understanding when a teacher is abusing him...)

I'm calling the news station. This is disgusting! He may as well have raped and beaten you! Oh, Timmy, I'm soo sorry this happened to you!! OH GOD, WHYYYYYY?!!!!! First your Dad runs out on us, then Grandma dies...!!! Can't lose you... Can't lose you...!"


Then a ninja pops out of the wall. Cut to a close-up on the ninja's eyes. Jimmy Stewart flashes the ninja with his camera, and the ninja shouts in Chinese. Fade to black with an audible scuffle. Shoot the Rear Window, and have Stewart fall out in the lamest scene since Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" UFO cuts.

This is where I'll put my chips.

I worked for an entire year doing after school care, and my last week of work right before I went off to college a parent flipped out for no good reason and reported me to CPS :(

I talked to the kid afterwards, and they gave the exact same scenario as above, adding in that I was joking around, they thought it was funny, I did not abuse them in any way, and they were really upset that they were being pulled out of the program away from their friends. I didn't even put tape over their mouth, in fact I didn't DO anything!

Pretty sure the school and CPS saw right through it, but I had to live in fear for months that the cops would show up at my dorm room :mad:

[asimplegirl]

My mom made the paddles for the school board. She was a teacher. She was a bitch. She still is.

I was treated like crap as a kid in school. I wish that teachers in my school would've gotten fired for some of the stuff they did.

[pinkmandy]

My mom made the paddles for the school board. She was a teacher. She was a bitch. She still is.

I was treated like crap as a kid in school. I wish that teachers in my school would've gotten fired for some of the stuff they did.

That's awful. (((HUGS)))

In our school system they still had paddles when I was in elementary school. What always pissed me off is *if* the kid was one of the teacher's kids he/she never got paddled. Small town and most of our teachers taught because they were expected to- their hubbies were the large landowners, they were a little social elite. So if you had a certain last name, no paddling. Oth, if you had another, more distasteful (to them, especially the poorer families) last name you could expect them for anything.

I was neither thank goodness.

[SnappleLlama]

But how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

[angelatc]

I remember being in the first grade in PE class of all things and my PE teacher taping an out of control boy to his chair and taping his mouth shut for like 5 minutes. Hilarious and the kid didn't act out again after that!

In 2nd grade I was paddled everyday at least once because I had a terrible problem with daydreaming and talking. :P I remember that teacher breaking a ruler on a classmates knuckles. This was an everyday thing.

Kids today would never have survived school back in the day. :D

My oldest kid is a day dreamer. Instead of smacking him on the back of the head, they want us to give him Ritalin.

My grandmother (think 1 room rural country schoolhouse) said they got whacked if they came to school with dirty nails. Think about it - half those kids put in 2-3 hours of work before going to school, but that was no excuse.

[angelatc]

I doubt it was as serious as it is being made out. Kid was probably being loud. Teacher told him to shut up. Kid doesn't shut up. Teacher half-jokingly tapes his mouth shut. Kids laugh. Loud kid doesn't mind. Kid goes home. Parents ask if anything interesting happened at school.

"My teacher taped my mouth shut."

"OMG OMG OMG!!! I NEED TO TXT THE PTA ASAP!!!"

"It wasn't bad..."

"Oh my God! Is that what he told you to say? (Hm... He is mentally retarded. Incapable of understanding when a teacher is abusing him...)

I'm calling the news station. This is disgusting! He may as well have raped and beaten you! Oh, Timmy, I'm soo sorry this happened to you!! OH GOD, WHYYYYYY?!!!!! First your Dad runs out on us, then Grandma dies...!!! Can't lose you... Can't lose you...!"


Then a ninja pops out of the wall. Cut to a close-up on the ninja's eyes. Jimmy Stewart flashes the ninja with his camera, and the ninja shouts in Chinese. Fade to black with an audible scuffle. Shoot the Rear Window, and have Stewart fall out in the lamest scene since Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" UFO cuts.

Jimmy Stewart had a camera?

[heavenlyboy34]

My oldest kid is a day dreamer. Instead of smacking him on the back of the head, they want us to give him Ritalin.

My grandmother (think 1 room rural country schoolhouse) said they got whacked if they came to school with dirty nails. Think about it - half those kids put in 2-3 hours of work before going to school, but that was no excuse.

:p Ritalin! Geez...that's silly. :rolleyes: Daydreamers make for good writers, scientists, etc. Put him to work doing something imaginative like that. :D

[heavenlyboy34]

But how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

You must be a verrrrry sneaky llama!! ;)

[SnappleLlama]

you must be a verrrrry sneaky llama!! ;)

:d:d:d

[asimplegirl]

That's awful. (((HUGS)))

In our school system they still had paddles when I was in elementary school. What always pissed me off is *if* the kid was one of the teacher's kids he/she never got paddled. Small town and most of our teachers taught because they were expected to- their hubbies were the large landowners, they were a little social elite. So if you had a certain last name, no paddling. Oth, if you had another, more distasteful (to them, especially the poorer families) last name you could expect them for anything.

I was neither thank goodness.

It was the same way where I grew up. We did not have the correct name, and my mom was a "friend" with all the other teachers there, which meant just like the little cliques in high school, she ran around trying to be just like them, drive the same vehicles, wear the same clothes, act the same, etc. My mom would come to my class and spank me in front of the class. I never got it.

[angelatc]

:p Ritalin! Geez...that's silly. :rolleyes: Daydreamers make for good writers, scientists, etc. Put him to work doing something imaginative like that. :D

Yes, his mind races at about 1000 miles an hour.

He makes movies.

[asimplegirl]

My oldest kid is a day dreamer. Instead of smacking him on the back of the head, they want us to give him Ritalin.

My grandmother (think 1 room rural country schoolhouse) said they got whacked if they came to school with dirty nails. Think about it - half those kids put in 2-3 hours of work before going to school, but that was no excuse.

Now, think about the kids who got spanked but also got stuck on Ritalin. That's the way it was for me. Mom would let the teachers do what they wanted, and then, because she thought it would make their job easier, she got me on Ritalin with their help. I was on it for a long time, even though it made me much worse, and I was eventually taken off for the damage it was doing. And this was just for humming in class, and being as my mom and the teachers told my doctor, a "romantic person", which meant that I daydreamed constantly.

I had to eventually start this type of mental therapy thing for what it did to me, before they'd allow me back in school.

[JeNNiF00F00]

Yes, his mind races at about 1000 miles an hour.

He makes movies.

Hah mine too! I have to be creative and constantly doing something in order to keep my sanity. :P "Structured" school systems were never the best for me..actually anything structured is torture. :D

The school needs to learn how to deal effectively with children who are over imaginative. The Ritalin is just a bad way out of the system. I did tons of sports to drain my energy and somehow managed to 'absorb' what I needed. I also remember being sent to the school nurse for a hearing test once in middle school for dazing out, and not really "participating" in class.

[xd9fan]

taping a childs mouth shut( let alone a special-needs kid)......as a nurse...this scares the hell out of me. (protect the airway protect the airway)

As a parent.....I cant tell you how mad I would be.:mad: what message does that send to kids.

That is lawsuit material maybe even criminal.

[angelatc]

taping a childs mouth shut( let alone a special-needs kid)......as a nurse...this scares the hell out of me. (protect the airway protect the airway)

As a parent.....I cant tell you how mad I would be.:mad: what message does that send to kids.

That is lawsuit material maybe even criminal.

I'd be the parent disciplining the kid again when he got home.

I love the message that it sends to the kids.

[angelatc]

Hah mine too! I have to be creative and constantly doing something in order to keep my sanity. :P "Structured" school systems were never the best for me..actually anything structured is torture. :D

The school needs to learn how to deal effectively with children who are over imaginative. The Ritalin is just a bad way out of the system. I did tons of sports to drain my energy and somehow managed to 'absorb' what I needed. I also remember being sent to the school nurse for a hearing test once in middle school for dazing out, and not really "participating" in class.

He doesn't have the hyperactive component.

It is what it is. I always intended to homeschool, but I can't teach him.

[Wendi]

If the kid was that disruptive to the other students in the class, why was he allowed to stay there? What about THEIR rights to get an education without being constantly disturbed by his loud mouth?