A teacher at Winston Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver has been reprimanded by the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch for using duct tape to try and keep her students quiet.
In 2012, teacher Margo Fowler punished three students who were talking by telling them to put duct tape across their mouths.
According to documents posted on the regulation branch’s website, the first student was in grade 8 and when he was talking in class Fowler gave him the option of either going to the office or having his mouth duct taped. He chose the tape and had it over his mouth for about 15 to 20 minutes. A photo of him with his mouth taped ended up on another student’s Facebook page.
The second incident also involved a grade 8 student. He was talking loudly in class, and Fowler told him to duct tape his mouth, which he then did.
The third student was in Grade 10. Fowler warned him that if he did not stop talking he would have his mouth taped closed. He did end up with duct tape on his mouth for some time.
Fowler met with the district on April 13, 2012, and admitted to duct taping the mouths of all three students.
She has agreed that this is professional misconduct.
Fowler rates high on the website ratemyteachers.com. Students who have rated her gave her five out of five for helpfulness, and four out of five for easiness and clarity.
Some of the comments include:
“Best teacher ever!!! :)”, “Ms fowler is the best best best teacher ever! her classes were soo much fun. personally, I never liked english much but last year was truly the only year that I enjoyed going to english class.u r soo cool ms fowler!!” and “She is the MOST AWESOME TEACHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! U ROCK MISS FOWLER!!!!”
What do you think about this situation? Do you agree with this form of punishment? Let us know if the comments below.
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