A 47-year-old Florida High School teacher has been suspended after photos surfaced showing her students wearing dog collars –referred to as the “cone of shame” by the teacher– as punishment.
Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp is a science teacher at Zephyrhills High School. In light of her suspension, teachers have come to her defense, suggesting the collars were a joke, while parents have voiced their disgust and shock.
From HuffPo:
Dubbed the “cone of shame” by the teacher, the photos are causing equal amounts of outrage and laughter from parents and students in the district. Bailey-Cutkomp reportedly used the cone for disciplinary infractions like drinking soda in class.
“I was disgusted, very disgusted,” one parent told the station. “…That’s a human, not an animal. You’re not spaying or neutering that person.”
Others, including student Tanisha Medina, thought it was a harmless joke.
“She just did it as a joke and said she was gonna punish us by doing it,” Medina told WTSP. “But she asked us first and we were all laughing and joking around.”
Pasco County Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino has suggested Bailey-Cutkomp should be fired for violating the state’s ethics codes — a decision some teachers are protesting.
“Whatever mistake Ms. Bailey-Cutkomp made, it was a mistake that I doubt she will make again,” ninth-grade teacher James Washington wrote in a letter to the school board, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Furthermore, what I have witnessed at ZHS certainly makes me believe that she has much to offer the students.”
The teacher is on unpaid suspension pending a hearing.
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About Stew Steve
There is nothing wrong for shaming a kid for bad behavior, Bad behavior should not be tolerated in the classroom. Maybe we ought to bring back the dunce cap? The parents that are complaining about this are more of a problem. They are not being parents and teaching their children about consequences for bad behavior.