Hot Sauce as a Deterrent

Recently I read about a teacher accused of feeding hot sauce laced crayons to an autistic student. I have mixed feelings about this. Let me explain, I don’t think hot sauce works very well as a deterrent because I’m pretty sure there used to be a product that you put on the fingernails that was supposed to help break the nail biting habit. It painted on and dried clear and I tried it on one of my sons (Neil, I wonder if you remember this) when he was little. It didn’t work and I actually think he liked it. Of course hot sauce is hotter these days too. I like a little hot sauce but some people take the whole hot sauce making business to the extreme, I’m thinking of Kiss your Ass Goodbye Hot Sauce or Kick Ass Hot Sauce, which is touted as not your grannie’s hot sauce and in my case not this grannie’s either. Butt back to the crayons, from my experience no matter the color all crayons taste pretty much the same and as a teacher I would definitely try to discourage my students from eating them, just not by dipping or soaking them in hot sauce. I don’t think the teacher I read about cut the crayons up and put them on a lunch tray to feed to her student, more likely she was trying to deter him from chewing and eating crayons during the daily classroom routine. I have a feeling that the habit of eating school supplies might have had a more complicated origin that would not be an easy fix, and add to that the child’s autism makes me think that regular social interaction, just saying no, wouldn't work either. Another memory that I know my daughters remember clearly involved ornamental peppers that their brothers had picked and told them to rub on their lips like lipstick. The reaction was horrible and included crying, lip burning and swelling, and uncontrollable nose running. The cure for the girls only included ice cream, mean brothers excluded. My girls, though not autistic, didn’t think twice about doing as their brothers suggested. I relate this because I figure the child that tasted or ate the hot sauce laced crayon probably felt significant discomfort and that isn't what school should be about for any child autistic or not. Schools (I mean all faculty, staff, and admin) work hard to be safe places and putting hot sauce on crayons as a deterrent to eating them was certainly not professional. The reason for my mixed feelings? The teacher got her a job back, just not in the same capacity with students.