A school director in Surin province explained that the viral photo of a kindergartener blindfolded with her hands bound with duct tape was part of a role play activity to discipline the girl.
The photo was posted on Tuesday on Facebook page DR.K V3. The girl, whose name was withheld, is a student at Ban Samrong School in the northeastern province. According to the girl’s father, a school faculty member who teaches the Mathayom level ordered an older student to tape the girl up because she teared up three reams of papers, and she wanted to teach the kindergartener what it’s like to get arrested.
“Her father doubts that a kindergartener could tear all three reams of paper. The Mathayom teacher used tape to bind the girl’s hands and closed her eyes with tape and paper. She was sobbing and shivering for fear that the teacher would send her to the police like she was threatened,” wrote the page’s admin.
There was also another child who was tied up for tearing up paper, but the details were not provided.
Prataksin Krueapue, the school director, told Thairath that the photo was widely misunderstood. On Feb. 20, kindergarten kids were playing at the Mathayom department and messed with the students’ submitted assignments.
According to the director, the teacher did not scold the girl, but instead told her that what she did was wrong. The binding was to demonstrate that a person who does wrong will be arrested by the police and handcuffed. He claimed that it was to teach a moral lesson, not punish, and that the girl was not crying like the Facebook page said.
However, the girl’s parents told reporters that the teacher’s action was unacceptable and they will take legal action.
Sanook reported that after a serious discussion and negotiation, two teachers who admitted to have taken part in the weird role-play lesson agreed to pay compensation of THB20,000 each to the two children who were tied up. They also asked to be transferred out of the school.
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