Student, 11, sent mom selfie after English teacher ‘TAPED his mouth up to stop him from talking’

An 11-year-old North Carolina student allegedly had his mouth taped shut by his sixth-grade English teacher after talking too much in class.

Catherine Webster received a text from her son Brady in February that read “I don’t know what to do” with an image of himself with layers of blue painter’s tape taped to his mouth during class at Smithfield Middle School, Johnston County.

Horrified by the image of her son, who she described as a “babbler” who has a “tendency for clowning,” Catherine posted the shocking image on Facebook to highlight her son’s story and his interaction with Dawn Felix, whom she refers to. to bring to light. as ‘Mrs. Felix’ in the mail.

DailyMail.com can exclusively imagine Dawn Felix, who attended the Johnston County school in August last year after her identity was confirmed by Catherine.

Felix is ​​said to be an international teacher, although it is unclear where she comes from. She has been forced to resign and is said to have lost her visa, meaning she can no longer work in the US.

Catherine said she hoped her position would “serve as an example” to other teachers or carers who are “walking a fine line.”

She said she had “never met, seen or received an email” from Felix, who allegedly applied this bizarre punishment to “at least three students.”

“But apparently I should have done that several times so I could work with her to correct my son Brady’s behavior in her class,” a concerned Catherine wrote.

“His grades were good, so I had no reason to believe anything was wrong, because she never contacted me.”

The mother-of-three said other teachers said Brady got along well with others and “likes to entertain his classmates.”

‘[He also] tends to clown and be disruptive and talk too much,” she said.

“I’m a reasonable person and a fairly strict parent who doesn’t tolerate disrespect and understands that teachers don’t have time for repeated disruptions, so I punish Brady at home when this happens as well.”

After receiving the text message from her son saying he was “humiliated” by the experience, Catherine said she couldn’t contain her shock and disappointment.

She said other teachers had raised concerns about Brady’s behavior and, with her help, had come up with solutions to minimize disruption in the classroom.

“Those teachers have had to redirect or correct this behavior and they have always emailed or called me to notify me,” she said in the post.

“They feed him silent lunch or take him away from his mates or in some cases, more serious but acceptable forms of punishment. They never touched Brady.

But when she mentioned her son’s English teacher, she said Felix had taken matters into her own hands instead of discussing her concerns with a parent.

“She’s been doing it on a lot of kids for a few months now, and according to my kid, a detective with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Department, and other classmates, she sometimes taped their wrists together,” Catherine said.

“This was an ongoing thing in her class, and always without calling parents about their kids’ behavior, at least mine and one other parent I know, and possibly a third.”

Catherine claimed in the Facebook post that her son’s teacher had told detectives investigating the incident that it was “funny” and that the “kids laughed when it happened.”

On February 14, Brady had his phone with him at school and sent Catherine a photo of himself revealing what happened behind closed doors.

She emphasized that her son sometimes laughs when he is uncomfortable.

“Maybe he was laughing, standing in her classroom in front of 20 or so classmates as she put strip after strip after strip (looks like 10-12 strips, layer after layer) of blue masking tape over half his face,” she said. said.

After seeing the image, Catherine said she immediately called the school.

In a statement to WRAL the school board said: “We can confirm that when such allegations arise, our administration responds promptly, investigating the allegations and sometimes removing staff from classrooms pending a thorough review.”

The sheriff’s office also investigated after saying several allegations had also been made by other parents.

After consulting with the district attorney, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office decided there was not enough to warrant an assault charge.

Johnston County Schools told the outlet that Felix, who was just hired in August 2022, resigned on Feb. 17, just days after the photo was sent to Catherine.

“The teacher, whose contract was damaged by this incident, is returning to her country because she can no longer teach here,” Catherine said in her post.

“I don’t know what kind of disciplinary action would be necessary to disqualify them from staying on these contracts, but I regret that she won’t be held as an example.”

Catherine claims that the ELA sixth grade teacher, who was “recruited from a pool of international teacher candidates to fill gaps,” will “soon leave the country.”

‘Had [she] Had she been a local resident, or at least a US citizen, she would be facing criminal charges right now,” Catherine claimed.

Catherine added that she still had questions about what the Department of Public Education would have done had the teacher not lost her teaching visa.

‘I would like to know exactly what the Public Education Department would do in a slightly different situation. That remains unanswered for me,” she said.

“I think we all know it’s far too easy for teachers to mistreat or even insult students in a classroom, get fired from their district (or, in this case, resign once they’ve been placed on furlough and reported) and then get a teaching job in the next province or state.

“So at what point is this kind of behavior investigated and punished to a point where a teacher can’t repeat the pattern elsewhere with other kids?”

The disappointed mother of three said her view of teachers was unaffected and Felix’s behavior was “few and far between”.

“I love and fervently support our teachers. I try to work with my children’s teachers, although it gets harder as they get older because teachers have more students and less time to spend with each family,” she said.

“This post is not a blow to teachers in general, but to one teacher. In every profession you will always find a few bad apples. But they don’t spoil the whole bunch.’

DailyMail.com has contacted the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Smithfield Middle School, The Department of Public Instruction and Catherine Webster for comment.