Substitute Teacher Allegedly Duct-Tapes 9-Year-Old’s Mouth Shut

Lafayette, LA – A mother is pursuing criminal charges against a substitute teacher who allegedly got her 9-year-old son to stay quiet by duct-taping his mouth shut.

Michelle Droddy’s son, a fourth grader at J. Wallace James Elementary school, came home from school as usual on September 12, though, this time, the mother noticed that something was wrong, reports KATC.

“He was extremely upset, he just told me he didn’t want to go back to school no more, and he didn’t want to be friends with no one in his class, or the school,” said Droody.

Droddy learned what happened a week later when she got a call from the school’s principal. A substitute teacher had apparently put red duct tape over the boy’s mouth in an effort to keep him quiet, reports MSN Now.

‘”Now he has to face these same kids for the rest of the year that were sitting there laughing at him,” said Droody. “The embarrassment and the shame that goes along with having someone you’re supposed to respect that comes and duct tapes your mouth shut in front of everybody.”

The Lafayette Parish School Board is now filing a report with the Lafayette Police Department and have condemned the actions of the substitute.

“It’s very serious. Any time we treat a child outside the boundaries of our discipline matrix, and also just outside the boundaries of what seems to be common sense,” said Superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper. “You just don’t do that to children.”

Droddy has officially filed a criminal report against the substitute, an action that Cooper supports.

“We feel like we’ve taken the necessary disciplinary action against that teacher, but the parent always has the right to file additional charges,” said Cooper.

Fun fact: Your humble writer has actually worked as a substitute teacher before. And, while it can be hard to harangue those little whipper-snappers as a sub, without the respect of the regular classroom teacher, this kind of punishment is just cruel and inexcusable. If those kids are driving you to psychotic behavior, just quit!

Here’s a video report of the substitute duct-taping incident: