After his arrest for cruelty to juveniles, a local school headmaster is speaking out about the charges being brought against him.
John Raymond, headmaster of Lakeside Christian School in Slidell, is alleged to have wrapped three students’ heads with clear packing tape as a punishment for being disruptive. The students, all 13-year-olds, told police that they had difficulty breathing.
Raymond offered his side of the story in a written statement, claiming the students he punished were so consistently disruptive that their teacher was in tears and about to quit.
Below is some of Raymond’s written statement:
"After speaking with the teacher, I led the students to the upstairs hallway and explained to them that we were not going to tolerate this continued disruptive behavior for the rest of the school year. At no point were the students ever in my office. I told them that they could not disrespect the teacher and cause her emotional grief, nor would I allow them to rob their classmates of an effective learning environment. I told them, "I love you, but this has been going on all year and it has to stop immediately." I wanted to give them another chance. At this time, I pulled out a roll of clear Scotch packing tape and said, "I’m going to give you a choice. We can either go downstairs and call your parents and you can wait in the lobby to be suspended, or you can get tape on your mouth and learn how to be quiet during class."
The students all chose tape and I pulled off one piece at a time and carefully placed it over their mouths making sure that it did not touch their nose or interfere with their breathing. At no time was tape wrapped around any student’s head.
After the tape was applied, I asked all the students “Are any of you in pain or hurting in any way?” They unanimously shook their heads no. I asked, “Can you all breathe normally?” They unanimously shook their heads yes. At any time, the students could have easily removed the tape by simply pulling it off.
We walked downstairs and I escorted them to their final class, which was now about halfway over. When the students entered the room, I said to the class, “Disrupting your class and disrespecting your teacher is not allowed.” Then I said, “I’m not going to call your parents, but you can tell your parents and if they have any questions, they can call me."
We love all of our students at Lakeside and strive to maintain a safe and effective learning environment. Building character in teenage boys can be difficult. These students were given a choice between suspension and the temporary tape. They were never in any physical pain. Their breathing was never impaired. The tape was never wrapped around their heads. And it was off in under ten minutes. No student was ever treated with cruelty or harmed in any way."
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