Mother Pulls Boy Out Of School After Staff Member Taped Up His Mouth For 'Talking In Class'

A mother decided to pull his son out of school after learning that a staff member had taped up his mouth for "talking in class."

Apparently, the boy was among a group of pupils who faced an embarrassing punishment from a staff member in Colwill School in West Auckland, New Zealand. Their mouths were taped shut with plastic labels, reported Stuff.

Rob Taylor, the school principal, admitted that the incident had indeed taken place. In a letter to the concerned mother, he explained that it was "a game that children appeared to enjoy."

He also promised that the school would arrange to counsel the young boy if he had indeed been badly affected by the experience, reported LAD Bible.

"All children involved and their parents, excluding [student], have now been interviewed appropriately by the school's Social Worker who informs me that [staff member's] perspective that this was game [sic] that the children appeared to enjoy and wished to play with her was by all accounts the correct version of this event," Taylor wrote in the letter dated Dec. 11.

The mother said that the incident was upsetting on its own but it was all the more traumatizing for her son as he has respiratory problems and breathing difficulties. "I'm just absolutely appalled that a teacher would do something like this," she said.

The boy missed the last two weeks of the school year and his Christmas concert as he was so anxious about going back to school.

According to the mother, the boy was too embarrassed to talk to her about the incident that happened on Nov. 25 as he feared that it would make him look bad. She only found out the truth when her daughter, who studies in the same school, told her about it.

"One of the other girls came to her and said "Hey, your brother's mouth was taped for talking too much in class.'"

When the mother asked the boy how he felt about it, he said, "When we do something wrong in class, we have to say sorry and that we won't do it again, why can't the teacher?"

Although the school has not yet made a formal apology, the letter from Taylor included a statement from the concerned staff member, saying, "I am very upset by what has happened and very sorry to [the student] and [the parents] for causing upset to your family."

Waitematā Police Detective Senior Sergeant Kim Libby confirmed that the police were investigating the case.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Ministry of Education already spoke to the school and offered counseling for the student.