OKEECHOBEE — When 17-year-old Tara Hunt heard her favorite teacher was in trouble, her first instinct was to jump into the fray and help him. Tara’s automotive teacher, Jason Anderson got into some trouble last week when what many of his students said was intended as a light-hearted prank went terribly wrong. “Mr. Anderson is known as a fun-loving, caring teacher,” said Tara.

Last week, one of his students fell asleep in class and Anderson used a couple large zip ties to secure the student to his chair while he was sleeping. When the student woke up, he realized he could not get up, and everyone laughed.

The student’s father said he felt this was inappropriate behavior from a teacher. “It was supposed to be a goof off class that day,” he said. "The kids were allowed to play on their phones that day or put their heads down on their desks. My son did not have his phone, so he put his head down on his desk and fell asleep. Why should he be punished for something he was told he could do?

“It might have been different if it had been another student,” he said, “but it was wrong for a teacher to do that to my son.” He went on to say the family is upset that so many are angry with his son over the incident. “We are not the ones pressing charges, but there are hundreds of kids threatening to beat my son up if this teacher loses his job. The state attorney is on this now. We are not the ones pursuing it,” he said.

A video of the incident was sent to television stations. Complaints were made to the school board and to the Department of Children and Families, and Anderson was removed from the classroom and reassigned while an investigation into the matter is made. Some claim this prank was an example of bullying. The student’s sister posted on Facebook and said her brother was already a regular victim of bullying and a teacher should know better than to join in on something like this. “Bullying is a crime. It’s not a joke,” she said.

Some Okeechobee residents agreed with her. Scott Nichols said, “Absolutely unacceptable behavior from a teacher no matter the intent. There are ways of dealing with a sleeping student, and making the student the butt of a joke by physically detaining them is not the way. Very unprofessional.”

Josephine Lopez said, “ I would go to jail for my kids. Don’t tie them, or we are having problems. They are not animals.”

On the other hand, there were others who felt Anderson had no ill intentions and should not be punished for the prank.

JoAnn Nicholl said, “Okeechobee has their panties in a twist! I applaud this teacher and will stand up on his behalf. My child was a student of his and looks up to him. He makes all of his students feel important, more than some of you parents do! Kids need laughter; they need discipline, and they need an adult other than their parents that are on their side. That is this teacher. He pushes his students to reach for their goals, and he makes them laugh along the way!”

Brian Beagle said, “This was blown out of proportion. Obviously with this teacher’s history, it’s harmless fun. They need to pardon the guy of potentially losing his job and lose one of the few fun teachers left. Kids need that teacher/student interaction. I honestly think it’s pretty hilarious, and as a kid, I’d of gotten a good laugh.”

Tara felt so strongly about her teacher’s innocence that she started an online petition with the intention of going before the school board to beg for Anderson to be put back in his classroom. She has been in his class for three years, and his class is one of her favorites.

She said he is one of the best teachers in the school and should not be penalized for trying to insert a little fun into the classroom. “He is not the type of teacher to pick on students. It was a joke, plain and simple,” she said. “He jokes with everybody. If he didn’t like the boy, he would not have done it. He’s not like that. He would never deliberately try to hurt somebody.” Tara went on to say she did not want anyone to be mad at the student who was zip tied. She did not think any of this was his fault. She said she thought other people saw the video and reported it, and it was not his fault.

As of Monday evening, Dec. 14,  1,732 people had signed Tara’s petition.