Teacher says taping mouths is no big deal

TERRE HAUTE, Ind., May 27 (UPI) -- A fired substitute teacher from Terre Haute, Ind., says school officials over-reacted to her taping the mouths of noisy first-graders.

Sheryl Smith was fired this week after parents complained she had taped the mouths of six young students at Fuqua Elementary School, the Indianapolis Star reported Friday.

Smith said she taped their mouths vertically and was just playfully trying to get the children to be quiet.

"It was a little piece of Scotch tape," she said. "I think it's blown clear out of proportion."

None of the children was upset, she added.

But a Vigo County schools spokesman said Smith used "extremely poor judgement."

"That's something we don't tolerate in the Vigo County School Corporation," he said.