HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania mother is outraged after her 10-year-old son told her his teacher washed his mouth out with soap as punishment for arguing with another student.

Ciara White told WHP she called police to Camp Curtain School in Harrisburg after school on Friday to report her son Donald Thomas’ teacher put soap in the boy’s mouth the day prior.

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White told police her son got into an argument with another student while the teacher was away and she later punished the boy when she returned and learned about the incident.

“She told me to go by the sink and she got a bar of soap and she started rubbing it on my tongue,” Thomas said. “I do want to go back to school, if she doesn’t work there anymore. I just don’t want to stay in that class.”

White said she decided to call the police because she believes the teacher’s alleged actions are illegal.

“It’s definitely assault, maybe even poisoning. Soap doesn’t belong in someone’s mouth,” she said.

“So many questions, first of all why would a teacher do that?” White questioned. “What kind of soap? I mean I don’t understand why a teacher would do that.”

Harrisburg police confirmed White’s report to PennLive, but contend the teacher’s actions were not criminal.

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“The allegation was that the teacher rubbed soap on the student’s tongue,” Capt. Gabriel Olivera said. “The school had done an initial investigation and what the mother claimed did occur. Their stories pretty much matched up to what the incident was.”

Olivera said police ultimately left the situation in the hands of school officials.

“It was determined to be a school administration issue, not a criminal issue,” he said.

And the school administration, as well as the local Harrisburg Education Association teachers union, refuse to discuss the ordeal with the media.

“School districts are not permitted to disclose, nor discuss student and/or employee matters,” Harrisburg schools spokeswoman Kirsten Key wrote in an email to PennLive.

The news site notes that the district’s discipline policy requires teachers to immediately intervene and to notify parents of a problem. Repeat offenses require a parent-teacher conference.

White told WHP she’s never heard from her son’s teacher about his behavior before, and she would have corrected his attitude if she had.

Now, she may be shopping for another educational option for her son.

“I want him to go to school, learn, be productive and behave and come home and I don’t know if that is possible right now,” White said.