Teacher Allegedly Ties 5-Year-Old to Chair in Front of Class

Filed under: In The News

A teacher in Australia is facing charges for tying a student to a chair in front of his classmates. Credit: Getty Images

Tying children to chairs. It always seems like such a good idea at the time.

Before you succumb to temptation, however, consider the story coming out of Australia about a 5-year-old boy who, you might say, was "bound" to get his teacher in trouble.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a teacher 60 miles northeast of Perth (on the west coast of Australia) faces criminal charges for a tying a student to chair in front of his classmates on April 19.

The teacher reportedly has been suspended with pay pending an investigation.

Sharyn O'Neill, director-general of Perth's Department Education and Training, tells the Herald the allegation is serious and will be treated "as a matter of urgency."

"There's no excuse to tie children to a chair, there is no occasion in which that is an OK way to deal with a behavioral issue," she tells the newspaper. "The teacher involved in this allegation, I understand, isn't a new teacher and has some years of experience.

"Regardless of experience ... it is simply not acceptable to tie a student to a chair," she adds. "Good common sense tells us you don't tie children to a chair."

The Herald reports the incident was reported by an assistant teacher. O'Neill tells the newspaper the child had been "difficult" on the day he was tied up.

"My understanding is the child had been not attending to their work, not getting down to what they had been asked to do and in some frustration the teacher has allegedly tied the child to the chair," she says.

The child was not injured, she! adds.
O'Neill denies teachers lack training to handle misbehaving students.

"We have 25,000 teachers who look after students day in and day out and for the most part they do that with expertise and professionalism," she tells the Herald. "We've got this situation, we've had one previously and I think both situations are unacceptable, we don't condone it and we're moving swiftly to make sure that they're both dealt with."

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