Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be mildly amused by the teacher placing sticky tape on her pupil's mouths?

178 replies

Firsttimmemummy · 04/03/2014 21:11

I know it's not on. I do. But all the same I can't help chuckling every time it's read out on the bbc news and picture this teacher just snapping.

Please don't all be mean to me, I'm new!!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-26431417

OP posts:
Morloth · 05/03/2014 00:46

Duct tape would have been more effective.

I have threatened my two with duct tape. They know how much I love the stuff.

We had a teacher who could turn a piece of chalk into a missile, those fuckers stung.

Of course, I could have just shut the fuck up then I wouldn't have had chalk thrown at me.

fairyfuckwings · 05/03/2014 01:06

Nibledbyducks I will!

Don't get your hopes up though as my health and safety advice is limited to:

  1. Get the kids to press their lips together before (possibly illegally) sellotaping their lips together; and
2 . Definitely never use scissors to prise a plug out of it's socket. As back in the 70s this would result in you being belted into the middle of the room and "fireworks"coming out of the tv. Still it would stop your irritating younger sister watching noel edmonds multi coloured swap shop.

I still reckon I'm in with a chance though!

HicDraconis · 05/03/2014 02:23

It's not that funny - that a class of pupils was so badly behaved the teacher had to resort to something like this. Either she's a rubbish teacher with no discipline and no respect from the pupils (possible), or the pupils are PITA with no respect for anyone (seems more likely).

My son would have had issues with breathing as he seems to have a permanently blocked nose. No concerns with reacting to the tape though, when they "help" me with wrapping parcels they seem to get more on themselves than the paper :)

innisglas · 05/03/2014 02:46

My daughter had a supply teacher who did this. I had already changed her to another school because she was unhappy with the teacher, then the teacher was caught out doing this and was fired

Madamecastafiore · 05/03/2014 03:00

I was more disgusted at the awful beaded hair band one of the complaining mums was wearing but blame just having had a baby for inability to give a shit and utter shallowness!!

MammaTJ · 05/03/2014 04:00

I too am fairly local to this school. I have a few friends who have DC at this school. The impression I am getting from them on FB is that the children (between 9-13 to be at the school, so not little children) had kept on at her to do it. It was done in fun rather than punishment. These children could hardly have all been pinned down and forcibly taped.

zebbidy · 05/03/2014 04:02

Agree with you financeprincess.

Wrong but a little funny. The kids didn't seems like quivering beaten wrecks like their parents were portraying. They were probably happily going along with the teacher because children find things fun , until one child told a parent that escalated it into a full blown ridiculous news story. Must fave been a very slow news day. Like the day a pig got sunburn and had cream applied! What a life changing story that was.

I'm sure if they detested that much a class of children against one teacher could have done something to alert another adult or just spoken out. They aren't exactly babies.

zebbidy · 05/03/2014 04:04

Agree with you financeprincess.

Wrong but a little funny. The kids didn't seems like quivering beaten wrecks like their parents were portraying. They were probably happily going along with the teacher because children find things fun , until one child told a parent that escalated it into a full blown ridiculous news story. Must fave been a very slow news day. Like the day a pig got sunburn and had cream applied! What a life changing story that was.

I'm sure if they detested that much a class of children against one teacher could have done something to alert another adult or just spoken out. They aren't exactly babies.

ZombiesAreClammyDodgers · 05/03/2014 04:10

Who the fuck laughs at the cat bin lady?? that cat would have died of starvation or being crushed to death by a rubbish compactor. All it did was be friendly and that is how it got rewarded. Astounded at some posters here.
Being an a-hole is not cool Angry

DarlingGrace · 05/03/2014 04:20

I want to know where she buys sellotape that strong, the stuff I get at work wont hold pictures up let alone shut a teenage gob.

DarlingGrace · 05/03/2014 04:23

I knew i'd find parental hysteria if I looked hard enough:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2573069/Woman-teacher-suspended-TAPING-10-year-olds-mouths-giggling-class.html

LiberalLibertine · 05/03/2014 05:34

He called himself executive head teacher on the bottom of that letter?! Never heard that before.

I don't find it funny tbh, or the cat in the bin.

MortaIWombat · 05/03/2014 06:18

I'm amazed that, '"Some people got really bad rashes and this girl in my class had her lips bleeding..."' whilst simultaneously '"When the Sellotape started to come off she put more on."'

I wonder whether it stuck so tightly it ripped all the skin off when removed, or if it kept unpeeling...... Hmm

And were the kids 'in on it' as an agreed joke/attempt to remind themselves not to talk, and did two children (quoted copiously in the article) act the drama lamas when they got home and play up to outraged mothers?

It's actually quite a cleverly worded article. It suggests one reading, yet is open to quite another.

Either way, I think the teacher was very foolish to do this, no matter whether it was 'red mist' or a jokey agreement with a bunch of chatty Year 6s.

MortaIWombat · 05/03/2014 06:26

And omg amazing Daily Fail photo. Grin

MammaTJ · 05/03/2014 06:45

He called himself executive head teacher on the bottom of that letter?! Never heard that before.

He is quite well known locally for being a pompous arse!

I posted a while ago asking the benefits and disadvantages of the middle school system. This was largely because he wanted to extend his school from ending at year 8 to carrying on through to 6th form.

Sparklingbrook · 05/03/2014 06:46

Awesome I was just about to post the same. Was that really necessary? Grin

How old were these children?

I never knew Sellotape was so dangerous. Shock

teacherandguideleader · 05/03/2014 06:57

I can't help thinking this is a joke gone wrong. My class are 12 year olds and I would not be able to get them to line up and have tape put on their mouths for punishment - they would all be screaming 'human rights' and I'm fairly sure at least one of them would have legged it out of the door to get the head.

I can however imagine them saying 'oh go on then' if I jokingly said I would tape their mouths up and being quite willing to be taped up (not that I would do it as I would be too worried about something fun natured being taken out of context).

I would also like to know what their school budget is like, mine certainly doesn't stretch to Sellotape (or glue for that matter) that actually sticks.

This reminds me of the time a complaint was made about me by a parent for telling her son that if he didn't sit on his chair properly I'd knock his teeth out. What I had actually told the child (and he understood what I said) was that if he didn't sit on his chair properly he might fall and knock his teeth out. Children do sometimes like to change stories slightly.

saintlyjimjams · 05/03/2014 06:58

That daily mail sad face Sellotape photo is perfect :purrs with contentment:

Sparklingbrook · 05/03/2014 07:01

I would not allow my DS to be photographed for a newspaper in this way. Talk about making the most of it. Irresponsible of the parents to allow that.

Treaclepot · 05/03/2014 07:09

It's hardly fecking child abuse. I would be pissed off with my child for winding up a teacher that much. I remember lessons in school when we would just take the mick all lesson. In fact the teachers that were really bad were the ones that would put you down constantly and make you feel thick.

Massive over reaction by the media, far worse things going on in the world.

Dawndonnaagain · 05/03/2014 07:26

For all those who think this is funny, I ended up in hospital when this was done to me. It was over forty years ago.
It's very common to be allergic to the glue on sellotape/plasters/micropore.

WanderingAway · 05/03/2014 07:33

There was a teacher at our school who taped a boy to his chair. Back then we all thought it was nothing to complain about and now i still think something like that is nothing to complain about.

Sometimes kids need a harmless shock because a lot of children together can get quite rowdy.

thegreylady · 05/03/2014 07:48

As a retired teacher I sympathise with the teacher though I know she was wrong. Was she a supply teacher? The way many pupils treat supply teachers is appalling, I did supply for a while after early retirement and there was one secondary school so bad that I left at lunch time. The head told me no supply had don a full day.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 05/03/2014 08:02

near-sounds like our games teacher, vile woman who wouldn't let us take a towel to leave by the shower to cover up. She also used to make us go into the toilet with a box of tampons and wait outside until we'd got one in as 'there was no excuse to miss swimming.'

We were 12.

differentnameforthis · 05/03/2014 08:40

but it's also very telling that not one parent is concerned about addressing the misbehaviour of their children in the lead up to the incident.

1] how do you know they didn't address it?
2] the behaviour by the teacher was far more inappropriate, don't you think?
3] if I was a parent in this situation, I wouldn't publicly reprimand my child after this public humiliation.