Teacher On Leave While Investigation Under Way

[Amelia]

Teacher On Leave While Investigation Under Way

May 12, 2005

TheDenverChannel.com

AURORA, Colo. -- A teacher at Sidecreek Elementary School in Aurora was placed on leave Thursday after the mother of a fifth grader reported that the teacher taped their son's mouth shut.

The incident allegedly occurred on Wednesday, but the Laura Solarin didn't learn about it until she called home to check on her son, Gabriel, after school and he told her what happened.

"He gets the tape out of the desk and he starts wrapping it (around my head) in layers," said Gabriel, 11. "He went around (my head) maybe about 10 times. "

Gabriel said the the teacher left the tape on him for about 15 minutes before two other teachers saw it.

Laura Solarin told 7NEWS that she called Aurora police to report the incident.

"It's inexcusable," she said.

Police began an investigation and the school district suspended the teacher until they determine if the teacher acted inappropriately. The district launched its own investigation into the incident.

No charges have been filed in the case and police weren't releasing the offense report because the investigation is still under way. They are investigating the case as possible child abuse.

[cricket]

Quote:

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The incident allegedly occurred on Wednesday, but the Laura Solarin didn't learn about it until she called home to check on her son, Gabriel, after school and he told her what happened.

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Fire the teacher.

Fire the journalist for bad grammar.

Fire the editor for letting this bad grammar get into press.

Fire the mother so she can be home with her son when he gets home from school.

That should help solve some of the worlds' problems.

[Gerr]

If the kid talks too much and becomes a nuisance & a disruption in the classroom, he deserves to have his mouth taped! The discipline is so lax in public schools these days that the teachers have a hard time controlling the classroom. In my grade school days (eons ago), if I disrupted the class & got punished, that wouldn't have been the end of it. I would have gotten punished at home too.

Gerry

[Bravus]

I agree that there is a need for work on discipline in *all* schools these days. But one key to discipline that works is that it needs to be clearly fair and consequential, and that it needs to be administered in a professional way that both deserves and shows respect. This particular instance is one that looks exactly similar to what a playground bully might do: "I'm bigger and stronger than you, plus I have the authority of the system behind me, so I can treat you how I like".

If it's just an adult responding in anger and frustration and exerting his/her strength (physical and social), then it's not even discipline, it's just the law of the jungle. Appropriate consequences and a redemptive approach are essential to true discipline.

[Gerr]

My wife, who took Latin in school, told me before that discipline means "teaching". Proper discipline therefore is not just administering pain, but administered in such a way as to teach a lesson.

Gerry

[GreatLakesGramma]

I agree with you, Bravus. This is not true discipline.

[K]

Not to many years ago in our Adventist school, a teacher tied a young African American boy to his chair because he would not stay in his seat. He was tied with crepe paper, but his mother (a public school teacher) was livid. (He was not from a single parent home. . . his father was military and they did discipline their son)

There was no action taken against the teacher by the board, conference, or parent.

Was it appropriate or not to restrain a young man with crepe paper?

K

[Michelle]

K--interesting question. Never heard of that restraint, but can think of a couple of my sophomores my last year of teaching . . . . Nah, just kidding--crepe paper wouldn't have kept them in their seats anyway; it would have just made a spectacular scene as they broke free.

The original question--I remember tape over the mouth when I was in school, but wrapping it around and around the head is just plain wrong. Don't know if tape over the mouth is acceptable anymore, but definitely not around the head!

M

[K]

I found this article that was published in the Dallas Morning News yesterday interesting to the current discussion.

Of course there was a death of the dog, but we sure give a more attention to animal cruelty than kid cruelty.

Quote:

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2 years given in dog's death

Denton: Jury says man's record, behavior led to maximum sentence

07:15 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 18, 2005

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News

DENTON – The man who taped a 1-year-old black Labrador retriever's mouth shut in July, causing the dog's death from heatstroke, will serve two years in state jail, a Denton County jury decided Wednesday.

"What he did was an unbelievably cruel act, and he deserved to be punished," lead prosecutor Tony Paul said after the trial.

Richard Swift, 43, of The Colony was convicted Wednesday morning of animal cruelty. Jurors decided on the maximum jail sentence allowed and fined him $5,000, half the maximum.

Some jurors said the crime combined with Mr. Swift's six previous criminal convictions – including manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance and assault causing bodily injury – played a role in their decision.

"In the past, he's been given numerous chances to rehabilitate himself," juror Jon Burkhart said.

Mr. Swift was not eligible for probation because he once had probation revoked after he tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, prosecutors told jurors.

Derek Adame, Mr. Swift's attorney, said he was let down by the verdict and sentencing.

"You're always disappointed when things don't go your way," Mr. Adame said. "But I understand what they did and why they did it."

During his closing arguments, Mr. Adame conceded that Mr. Swift caused the death of the dog, Bull, but said that it was not intentional.

"You can say, 'How dare you do something this stupid?' but what you'll never be able to do is say beyond a reasonable doubt, 'You intended and knew you were torturing a dog,' " Mr. Adame said.

Rodney Swift, Richard's younger brother and the dog's owner, did not agree with the jury.

"I think it's wrong," Rodney Swift said. "I don't think all of the truth has come out." He declined to comment further.

Rodney Swift was the only witness to testify for the defense in the three-day trial. On the stand, he described his brother as a lifelong animal lover and owner who would never intentionally hurt a dog.

The prosecution called seven witnesses, most of whom saw Bull the day of the incident. They described a semi-conscious dog so overcome with heat exhaustion that he could not move, respond to commands or drink water.

Mr. Swift laughed, sighed and shook his head repeatedly during the prosecution's opening statements and testimony from prosecution witnesses. After the prosecution objected to his behavior, 367th District Court Judge Lee Gabriel admonished Mr. Swift outside the jury's presence.

"If you choose to act that way, you will only hurt yourself," Judge Gabriel said. "You've done it from the very first witness to the last witness."

Jurors noticed his behavior. Mr. Burkhart said it was one of the factors he weighed in the verdict and sentencing.

"He almost seemed like he was trying to intimidate some of the witnesses," he said.

The incident last summer garnered national media attention and criticism from animal protection groups. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Denton County district attorney's office received hundreds of letters and e-mails about the case.

It took jurors about 40 minutes to reach a verdict and 90 minutes to decide on the sentence.

Mr. Adame, the defense attorney, said the real victim in the case was Rodney Swift.

"Obviously, in my opinion, I would have liked for them to give greater weight to his brother's position," he said. "He loses his dog and he loses his brother. I wish they had taken that into consideration."

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K