A northern Pennsylvania school teacher was photographed taping a mask to a male student to force the child to comply with the school district’s mask mandate.
The photograph appeared on the Facebook page of North Penn Stronger Together, a community group whose “mission is to bring parent & community concerns to NPSD (Northern Pennsylvania School District) leaders with respect and impact.”
The North Penn School District confirmed that the picture is genuine.
“Pro-mask or anti-mask, I hope we can all agree that taping masks to children’s faces crosses the LINE,” the Facebook group North Penn Stronger Together posted online Monday with the photo. “This was not a joke for the child or the parents.”
The school district denied that the teacher’s actions represent “the universal values that the North Penn School District strives to instill in both our students and staff.”
“After an immediate investigation, it was determined that while the incident was isolated and no malice was intended, the actions of the teacher were entirely inappropriate and unacceptable, no matter the context.”
“We understand that the act of taping a mask to a student’s face is concerning to many and apologize that it occurred,” the district added. “The matter is serious and it is being addressed with the employee. However, all personnel and student matters are confidential and no further information can be provided.”
How convenient. You would think that after a suitable interval of time had passed the district would then sweep the whole thing under the carpet hoping everyone will have forgotten.
Not likely.
“The lack of good judgment and common sense demonstrated by this educator is shocking,” a spokesperson for the North Penn Stronger Together Facebook group told Fox News in a statement. “There is no justification for this action – regardless of whether the intent was playful, joking, malicious or something else.”
“The fact that our school district leaders did not immediately remove this educator from any classroom responsibility may be a bigger and more shocking offense,” the group spokesperson added. “Every district should take measures to ensure that this does not happen in their schools.”
Pro-mask fanatics like that teacher seem to have a streak of authoritarianism. How else do you explain the effort to regiment children’s behavior and enforce that regimentation by humiliating a child in front of his classmates?
The kid will get over it. But the teacher should be prevented from being exposed to children in any and all cases.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member