Kindergarten teachers taped child’s hands and feet for discipline

Sad. Boy could have had ADHD or other developmental disability. Train teachers to spot these signs.

I'll just leave this here.

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Discipline starts from home! From what I have seen on the trains, in the supermarket, in stores, and even on the streets, it is quite clear that some so-called parents don't have a damn clue what the discipline means. They'd rather sit and watch like a clueless mutt while they're children damage things and make other people uncomfortable. Sometimes I think these men and women who have children need pointers on how to be a parent.

It would be better to kick the kid out of kindergarten. Let the mom find another place.

Time out is the only option. Perhaps Coca Cola and junk food also played a role. Or some bad family situation, kindergarten teachers have to be more serious.

Perhaps if the teachers tried hugging the kid...Kids want love.

its either that or send him home and if continues to expel him.. but what do you do while waiting for the parents to come...

Well said, Tony. I'd like to hear where school management was during this incident and their opinion as well.

If my kid was hitting other kids at his kindergarten I'd be glad to have his teacher tie him up for awhile. I mean that. I don't find this to be abuse at all.

Having worked with intellectually disabled adults where this sort of behaviour can be an ongoing problem, I feel sympathy for the teachers in an ordinary school setting when they have to deal with disruptive and violent behaviour. But the solution they used in this case should not have been resorted to. However the teacher should have reported the matter to the principal, who in turn should have suspended the child and made it clear to the parents that it could only return to the school when psychological intervention had been arranged and a remedial programme devised. I would guess that parental management at home was a problem in this case too, so the parents should welcome professional assistance.

@notagain. Not to mention the other children being harmed by the out of control child... should the out of control child also be charged with assault? Yes I realise not because they are a minor, but we have a saying, an adult crime deserves adult time regardless of the age.

Horrific. I hope the teachers get done for assault. The child may be physically unharmed but psychological injury doesn't count, it seems.

Civil disobedience in the class room - call the police and have the miscreant taken away in cuffs. Then politely inform the rest of the class disruptive behavior has consequences.

Theoersoniamnow, maybe it was the last resort for this teacher. Maybe there was no support system. Maybe there were no guidelines for discipline. Maybe the child was extremely violent. There is not enough information.

I have yet been in a situation where I needed to tie a child down. I have ever held them or put them in a room by hemselves or in the corner or any number of alternate ways to discipline. The best is sending them home, and by far my favorite. Sending them back to the people that raised them that way always gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Of course, duct tape is far more effective in taping the mouths of 5 year olds than regular old sticky tape. Much stronger. Much more effective for disciplinary measures.

How can they not know that?

Wow.

It's unfortunate that the teachers felt this course of action was necessary. Either the kid has problems or the parents have problems but more than likely a case of both. Either way the teachers and other kids shouldn't have to put up with it.

@Dan Lewis On this point I have to say I dont see it the same way as you do. I can't see how taping a kindergartener and wrapping your arms around them can be accounted for as similar actions. One is a natural, protective, and appropriate response. And the other doesn't seem to be to me. I can easily subdue a child who's on a rampage by holding them or not letting them hurt another. It does not take any violent or inappropriate actions. However taping a young child down is to me, an inappropriate course of action and will cause your reputation harm at least! To restrain someone with bindings is a real last resort, and is a response to a threat or violence. To do that to a small child while you are a much larger being, and fully capable of judging the situation better....I don't know, it really is asking for it imo. I would tie up a school invader or violent person who entered a kindergarten. I would never tie up a younger child unless I had absolutely no choice. And I mean NO CHOICE.

残酷 desu !!! :O( m

restraining a child or anyone by simply trying to not let them hurt others or themselves is not a crime or abuse.

I agree. So how is restraining a child with your hands any different than restraining with tape? Several people have stated that it's "way over the top" but is it?? No one would blink an eye at taping up an adult for abusing someone, yet that is exactly what this child was doing - he was being physically abusive to others.

I can tell you who was happy about that kid getting taped up. The parents of the child(ren) being abused by the little devil!

Hi Dan Lewis, A teacher can use active or passive physical force to lead the child away to a separate location normally a room. or a detention area. All schools have procedures, along with teachers that have undergone formal training to deal with these situations.

There should also be alarms to summon additional assistance if necessary .This all sounds like common sense.

No Dan Lewis, restraining a child or anyone by simply trying to not let them hurt others or themselves is not a crime or abuse. You should hold them if you can or become a barrier between those they are trying to hurt. If you were to strike, push, or do other violent actions out of anger and frustration, you would be in the wrong with a small child. However if a teenager is trying to hurt you, I believe that may be interpreted differently especially if they strike you first.

I've seen plenty of adults hold misbehaving children tightly so that they could not move. eg. A child screams and tries to hit another child. The adult prevents that (the punching, kicking) from happening by holding them despite the child fighting to get away. Is this abuse? If so, why? and if not, how does it differ from taping the child? The result is the same, but in the case of tape, it allows the adult to address other problems with his or her free hands. And... some 5 year old children can really put up a fight!

To physically restrain a child with tape risks being arrested and charged with assaulting that child. How severe the penalty depends to what in a manner the court deems the action caused or was likely to cause external or emotional injury. Well that opinion from a lawyer friend and she's still only her first vodka martini, mind the olive girl.

A madam lawyer opinion on the teachers behaviour, how many kindergartens in Japan has a procedure that issues there staff with tape to tether or muzzle their pupils to maintain control? Could depends on the parents complaint.

Apparently the issue is not the intensity of the tantrum that is the issue it is the action that deprived the child of free movement.

And they wonder why there is a bully problem in Japan. The kid was being a bully and the teacher stopped him, sounds like the kid was kicking and punching the teacher as well.

>"if they physically restrained him, they would have been accused of assault or molestation..."

Well how do you think they managed to get the tape on the boy without physically restraining him first?

Those who would say, "Throw them in jail!!" I ask, what crime was committed? You may not like their actions but nothing criminal actually happened.

Although tying up the kid is way over the top, the teachers had to do something to stop this bully from abusing the other kids..

I feel for the teachers somewhat; if they physically restrained him, they would have been accused of assault or molestation. If they yelled at him, they would have been accused of abuse or public humiliation. If they did nothing, they would be accused of not stopping the bullying of this kid. If they told him off quietly but to no effect, they would be accused of failure to do their jobs.

Considering the restrictions on teachers, I'm not quite sure what they could have done here that wouldn't have caused some sort of outrage, maybe call the cops..? (though they would be accused of overreacting)

@gogogo - you can't say "boo" to a child these days without someone calling it abuse.

In any case, guidelines for discipline should be made clear and be made available to the parents as well. This way the teachers know what to do in each circumstance, and the parents will know what to expect if the child behaves. If parents don't like the discipline, they can choose another daycare for kindergarten. The free-market will make a fair system for discipline.

I've known a couple kids that I might have done that to, to get them to stop hitting, kicking, biting, throwing, bouncing off other kids. A bit of tape to ensure they stayed in the naughty corner seems a mild temporary solution to me.

And that is why I do not work with children.

Most are hilarious and adorable. Occasionally you get a wild one and you need to protect the others.

Hey as a parent of a 5 year old, I would be really mad to know that my kid was treated in this matter by a teacher BUT, and that is a really important but, I would be really angry to learn that my kid was being beat up by another student and the teachers did nothing. Don't take me wrong, I still think what they did and how they treated this kid was horrendous but at least they did something.

There are no excuses for this action. This is just a case of teachers not being able to deal with the situation correctly.

I know a lady teacher who did this at an elementary school. In her case, it was all in fun and the students enjoyed the fun, including the one being bound. However, once the Japanese teachers got wind of it all hell broke loose and she had to make a formal apology. This is where so many Japanese teachers fail. Discipline is necessary, but there is nothing in the rule book that states discipline cannot be fun! Sadly, the mental age of many of these child carers is not much older than those they are in charge of caring for, if any. Discipline should be for learning, not for intimidating.

That probably did not work there. The kid probably also has some issues, as I doubt the teachers would have done this without a VERY serious reason. Most probably the kid will be directed to a proper institution, where the anger problems can be properly addressed.

good point...

If the kid was punching and kicking other children I don't see the problem, I don't think this is excessive it's just tape.

Whatever happened to making misbehaving kids sit in a corner?

That probably did not work there. The kid probably also has some issues, as I doubt the teachers would have done this without a VERY serious reason. Most probably the kid will be directed to a proper institution, where the anger problems can be properly addressed.

Am not sure what they were thinking by doing that, covering a child's mouth can be extremely dangerous. But I do sometimes wonder what teachers can do to stop or control a truly out of control kid harming other kids like in this case

the teachers are deservedly getting scorn for binding the kid with tape, but it also seems like this is a monster kid who has anger issues. he probably should be placed in a different setting and not where he can injure himself, other children or the teachers. i'm just guessing but maybe they were at their wit's end with him. and you know with monster kids come monster parents so perhaps they couldn't really talk to the parents about his behavior.

Tough to handle such a misbehaving child to everybodies satisfaction.

What is the procedure for severely misbehaving minors that refuse to respond to standard methods of discipline? This child was reportedly harming others and the teachers obviously needed to restrain him, though their methods appear far from the ideal. To isolate the child from the others could also be considered a form of abuse and would also require additional supervision which was probably unavailable. I recall my son when he was little coming back from day care with bite marks all over him. The minders advised that they could not stop another little girl biting many of the other children. I ceased taking my son there after that.

Those teachers should be jailed. Whatever happened to making misbehaving kids sit in a corner? When I was a kid, I was very familiar with all 4 corners of my kindergarten. But taping a kid up like that is inexcuseable behavior in my book

Seriously, what kind of education and training did these teachers receive? Anyone in that position, should not how to correctly discipline a child.

the Aichi prefectural board of education said that the punishment was too excessive and that the kindergarten must take preventive measures to prohibit a recurrence

All you have to do is fire the teacher or lose students and future applicants. I am not sure about the state of mind of other parents but I would demand instant change or my kid will bounce even if it was happening to another kid at their school.

Two female kindergarten teachers... taped a 5-year-old boy’s hands, feet and mouth

The report said that there were TWO TEACHERS and that they got one of the other kids involved...

No godfather, not "they" (Japanese) but her (the bully teacher).

the teacher asked another child in the class to help her stretch out the adhesive tape

So now they're actually TEACHING kids how to be bullies...