Two Elementary School Teachers From Texas Allegedly Gave Students Sleep Aid Stickers Containing Melatonin To Quiet Them Down
At an elementary school in Texas, two teachers have been suspended after allegedly giving students stickers containing melatonin to make them drowsy and quiet them down.
The incident occurred on September 24, and the teachers were removed from the classroom immediately.
The Northgate Crossing Elementary School educators are under police investigation after parents reported their children were given “sleeping stickers” during school hours that later affected their mood at home.
“Upon learning of the allegation, the teachers in that classroom were immediately removed and placed on administrative leave,” read a statement from the Spring Independent School District (SISD).
In addition, the two paraprofessionals in the classroom were also placed on administrative leave “as a precautionary measure.”
However, parents at the school claimed they were only officially notified about the investigation two weeks after the alleged incident took place.
The stickers were first brought to parents’ attention when a mom named Lisa Luviano reported them to school administrators.
She became alarmed after her four-year-old daughter came home from school on September 24 and showed her a blue sticker with a moon, stars, and clouds on it. Luviano’s daughter told her it was a “sleeping sticker.”
“She said, ‘It is a sleeping sticker,'” Luviano told ABC Houston. “I asked, ‘Where did you get this?’ And she said, ‘My teacher gives it to me for sleeping time.’ The next day, we went to the school. We brought the evidence up there, and we filed a report. We did say we wanted to file criminal charges if this is something that is true.”
Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
Luviano learned online that the sticker was actually called a Sleep ZPatch, which was a sleeping aid that contained melatonin and other “naturally occurring ingredients.” It was designed to be used for those over the age of 18.
Luviano also sent out a mass text to other parents, advising them to speak with their kids about the patch.
After asking their children about the stickers, many parents came forward with concerns about behavioral changes in their children.
One parent, Najala Abdullah, noticed that her four-year-old son had been acting differently since the school year started.
He was crying more than usual, refused to eat, and struggled to sleep at night. Multiple parents also took their kids to the hospital for an examination.
The teachers involved were not identified, but the SISD said that the alleged act was in violation of its Board Policy FFAC, which states that employees shall not give students any prescription and non-prescription medications, herbal substances, dietary supplements, or anabolic steroids of any kind unless otherwise authorized by the district.
Now, parents are questioning how long the alleged distribution of sleeping stickers has gone on for and whether anything else has been given to their kids.
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