Receiving a selfie from kids usually means goofy faces staring back at you from your phone. But Catherine Webster received a very different kind of selfie from her sixth grader on Valentine's Day.
According to the Daily Mail, the photo her son Brady sent her was of him with painters tape over his mouth and the message, “I don’t know what to do.” It was evidently a punishment for talking in class.
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“So, I asked, ‘What is that? Who did that?’ And he didn’t respond,” Webster told WRAL. She indicated that multiple layers of tape were across his face and as far up as his lower eyelid.
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THE TEACHER HAS RESIGNED FROM HER POSITION.
Webster reportedly contacted Smithfield Middle School's principal, LaShunda Faison, to investigate, according to the news outlet.
“School administrators are always able and willing to speak with any and all parents who may have concerns regarding any issue that occurs,” Johnston County Public Schools reportedly noted in a statement, according to WRAL.
A Johnston County Public Schools representative told WRAL that Felix, a new hire, resigned from her position on February 17, three days after Brady shared his selfie.
Webster and other parents’ allegations were investigated by the county sheriff’s office, but prosecutors “determined there was not enough to bring a criminal case.”
OTHER TEACHERS DISCIPLINE WITH REDIRECTION AND CORRECTION.
Webster posted the shocking image and the story of her son's interaction with Felix to her social media.
In a post from March 22 that has now been made private, she went into greater detail about her son, indicating the way other teachers have worked with him and discussing the climate in Felix’s classroom, according to MEAWW.
She shared that Brady is talkative, but his other teachers have indicated that he gets along well with his peers.
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She noted that their methods for dealing with his “tendency to clown around and be disruptive,” have been redirection or correction, followed up with an email to her.
“They give him silent lunch or move him away from his buddies or in some cases, more serious but acceptable forms of punishment,” she explained.
The mom reportedly indicated that Felix’s punishments were “an ongoing thing in her classroom, and always without a call to parents about their children’s behavior, at least mine and one other parent I know, and potentially a third."
ONE QUESTION REMAINS FOR WEBSTER.
Webster shared with WRAL that her middle schooler felt “humiliated” but was “afraid to speak up.” “Just because Brady didn’t get hurt doesn’t make this less serious,” the mother said.
