Viral photo of teacher taping facemask to student sparks outrage [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A photo of a middle school teacher in Pennsylvania taping a mask to a student’s face went viral this week.
• The North Penn School District issued an apology, stating the teachers’ actions were “entirely inappropriate.”
• There was no mention if the teacher would face any disciplinary action.

A Pennsylvania middle school has issued an apology after a photo of a teacher taping a mask over a student’s face sparked outrage among parents.

The photo was taken at Pennfield Middle School in Hatfield. It was shared on the Facebook page “North Penn Stronger Together” earlier this week.

“Pro-mask or anti-mask, I hope we can all agree that taping masks to children’s faces crosses the LINE. It was not a joke for the child or the parents,” the post said.

In a statement provided to The Philadelphia Inquirer, North Penn School District said: “An image taken in one of our classrooms last week and circulating on social media does not represent the universal values that the North Penn School District strives to instill in both our students and staff.”

“After an immediate investigation, it was determined that while the incident was isolated and no malice was intended, the actions of the teacher were entirely inappropriate and unacceptable, no matter the context,” the statement said.

According to the North Penn School District, the incident was “being addressed with the employee.” It was not mentioned whether the teacher would face disciplinary action.

Mask mandates at schools have become a sensitive issue during the Covid pandemic.

A statewide mask mandate for more than 1.7 million school students in Pennsylvania was thrown out by the state Supreme Court in December. This led to some schools making mask-wearing optional.

The mother of the pictured student told North Penn Now that she doesn’t want the photo of her son to go viral. She had only agreed to share it with a private group to garner support ahead of a school board meeting.

“What has since transpired is like a scene from my worst nightmare,” the mother said in the statement. “Certain individuals felt compelled to take matters into their own hands, including contacting local authorities and disseminating this image of my son to various media outlets.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last year that school districts without a masking policy in place were more likely to have COVID-19 outbreaks.

Source: Insider on Yahoo!