OK, I was reading this and decided that people have got to lighten up!

Students May Have Been Told to Tape Mouths
Tuesday, July 26, 2005 4:45 PM EDT
The Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Education officials said Tuesday they were investigating allegations noisy pupils at a primary school near Sydney were given strips of masking tape and told to tape shut their mouths.

The 11-year-olds, from St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Primary School, were in a musical rehearsal Monday when their rowdiness apparently became too much to bear, said Chief Inspector Mark Lavers from the police in Wollongong, an industrial town about 50 miles south of Sydney.

"Basically yesterday, a number of children were inside a hall practicing for a concert, they were making a lot of noise. (Someone) at the school got upset about that, asked them to quieten down," Lavers said. "They didn't. As a result, he's cut up a number of strips of masking tape and said `stick them on your mouth.'"

Nobody forced the children to apply the tape, he added. Police are not expected to file any charges, but George Whitby, director of schools for the Wollongong Diocese Catholic Education Office, said he expected an investigation to be completed in the next few days.

Whitby said he couldn't comment further on possible action, but said police and possibly government welfare officials could become involved, depending on the seriousness of the findings.

The person accused of telling children to tape their mouths shut was a member of the local parish community who was working as a volunteer at the school, he said.

OK, in today's world you have people who are abusing children and it is a heinous thing for anyone to do. They should be strung up by their genitals and...well my anger gets the best of me here...anyway, child abusers should be prosecuted. But these officials in Australia are upset because someone MIGHT have told the kids to put some masking tape over their mouths to keep them quiet. They were rowdy during a rehearsal.

How is that going to hurt these kids and scar them for life, tell me that? Tape? It comes right off and masking tape doesn't hurt anyway. How can they bring in the police and welfare officers for this? I mean, come on! I believe they are taking a bit too far in this case. What are your thoughts on the matter?