What do you do if you’re the headmaster of a private school and you’re asked by the principal to discipline a group of 7th grade boys that routinely disrupt their class and bring their teacher to tears?
If you’re John Raymond of Lakeside Christian Academy in Slidell, Louisiana, you give the boys 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 boys picked the tape and Mr. Raymond ended up arrested.
Louisiana pastor and “Survivor” contestant Rev. John Raymond said he gave five children a choice of having their mouths closed with Scotch brand packing tape or school suspensions. https://t.co/iLOdyHQUIS
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 11, 2022
Of the 5 boys involved, the parents of 3 of them are pressing charges.
Local law enforcement issued a Facebook post confirming Mr. Raymond was charged with three (3) counts of cruelty to juveniles, which states, in part, “to cause unjustifiable pain or suffering to children under the age of 17”.
National media picked up the story.
USA Today reports,
[Mr. Raymond] has been active in state Republican politics as a member of the Louisiana Republican Party State Central Committee as credentials committee chair who determines if there is a quorum during meetings.
When I read the national press accounts of the episode, I wanted to see what Mr. Raymond had to say about it.
Mr. Raymond released a Personal Statement on the Academy’s website. He concludes:
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.
Who is the winner in this story?
I’d say no one.
The biggest losers, however, are the parents in this Academy that haven’t taught their 7th grade boys how to behave.
If your son is consistently disrupting class and bringing his teacher to tears, you’re failing, mom and dad.
