It started like one of those harmless classroom icebreakers—something you’d expect on a rainy Friday when the regular teacher’s out and the substitute is trying to keep the energy from going completely feral. But at Maple Ridge Middle School, a “trust exercise” involving blindfolds has turned into a tense standoff between parents and administrators, with plenty of questions and not many clear answers.
According to multiple parents, the activity took place last week in a seventh-grade classroom during a single class period. Students were asked to pair up, put on makeshift blindfolds, and “practice trust” by following directions around the room. Several families say they only found out after their kids came home upset—or in at least two cases, with minor bruises.
What Students Say Happened in the Classroom
Students described a setup that sounds simple on paper: one student wears a blindfold, the other acts as a guide. The guide gives verbal instructions—“two steps forward,” “turn left,” “reach out”—and the blindfolded student follows. It’s the kind of activity you might see at a summer camp, except camp counselors usually do it in a big open field, not between desks and backpacks.
Several students told their parents that the room wasn’t cleared beforehand. Desks and chairs were still arranged for class, and some students had bags on the floor near their seats. In at least one account shared by a parent, the substitute teacher encouraged pairs to “make it challenging,” which some kids took as permission to get creative.
One seventh-grader, speaking through a parent who asked not to be identified, said the class got loud quickly. “People were laughing, and some kids were yelling directions at once,” the parent relayed. “My kid said it felt more like a game show than a lesson.”
The Moment It Went Sideways
Complaints began circulating after a few students reportedly bumped into desks, tripped, or collided with other pairs. Two parents said their children came home with bruises on their shins and knees. Another parent said their child complained of a sore wrist after reaching out and hitting the corner of a desk.
It wasn’t just the physical part that bothered families. Some students reported feeling anxious or embarrassed, especially if they didn’t like being touched or were uneasy about losing control of where they were moving. “My daughter’s not a dramatic kid,” one parent said. “But she said she felt panicky, and she didn’t want to be the only one refusing.”
Parents also raised concerns about peer behavior during the exercise. Multiple accounts claim a few students intentionally gave confusing directions or steered classmates toward obstacles for laughs. If you’ve ever met a roomful of 12-year-olds, you can probably guess how well “Use this responsibly” landed.
Parents Want to Know: Who Approved This?
By the end of the week, parents had begun emailing the principal and district office asking how an activity like this was allowed. The most common questions were blunt: Was it part of an approved curriculum? Was there a lesson objective? And why weren’t parents notified in advance?
Several families said they were especially frustrated because it involved blindfolds, which can raise safety issues and, for some students, emotional ones. Parents of children with anxiety, sensory sensitivities, or past trauma said the exercise could be triggering, even if it wasn’t meant to be. “It’s the kind of thing that might be fine for some kids,” one parent said, “but you have to make room for the kids it’s not fine for.”
One parent summed it up with a line that’s been repeated in more than one group chat: “Trust is earned, not assigned for extra credit.”
What the School Has Said So Far
The school has not publicly identified the substitute teacher or detailed exactly what happened, citing student privacy rules. In a brief message sent to families in the grade, the administration acknowledged that an “unapproved activity” occurred and said they were “reviewing classroom procedures and supervision expectations.” The message also encouraged parents to contact the office if their child was injured or felt unsafe.
For some families, that response landed as careful but vague. They want to know whether anyone observed the classroom, whether the substitute had a lesson plan, and what steps will be taken to prevent similar incidents. “I’m not looking to ruin someone’s career,” one parent said. “I just want to know how this slipped through.”
Another parent put it more pointedly: “If this happened in a gym class with equipment out, there’d be a protocol. Why is a classroom treated like it’s automatically safe?”
Why “Trust Exercises” Can Be Tricky in Schools
Trust activities aren’t inherently bad, and in the right setting they can help with teamwork and communication. The problem is that schools aren’t retreats, and students aren’t coworkers who opted into a training day. They’re minors in a controlled environment, and the adults in the room have a duty to anticipate the obvious chaos factor.
Safety aside, consent is a big issue. Blindfold activities can involve guiding, proximity, and sometimes touch, which can be uncomfortable or inappropriate depending on the student. Even if the rules say “no touching,” it’s hard to guarantee that when kids are moving around and can’t see where they’re going.
There’s also the peer-dynamics piece. A “trust” game can unintentionally hand social power to the loudest or most impulsive students, while quieter kids go along because they don’t want to look difficult. A lesson about trust can quickly become a lesson about who gets teased when something goes wrong.
What Parents Are Asking for Now
Parents pushing for answers aren’t just focused on what happened in one classroom; they’re asking for broader guardrails. Several families want clearer district rules about what substitutes can do without prior approval, especially activities involving movement, blindfolds, or physical interaction. Others want staff training refreshed around student consent and accommodations.
A few parents said they’d like the school to offer a simple corrective step: a conversation with students acknowledging that the activity wasn’t appropriate and reminding them they can opt out of anything that makes them feel unsafe. “Kids need to hear, out loud, that they won’t get in trouble for saying no,” one parent said.
Some are also calling for a formal incident report process when non-routine activities lead to injuries, even minor ones. “I’m not talking about paperwork for every scraped knee,” one father said. “But if a whole class is blindfolded and people are bumping into desks, that’s not normal.”
What Happens Next
As of this week, families say they’re waiting for a follow-up from the district with more specifics: what the investigation found, whether the substitute will return, and what policy changes—if any—will come out of it. The school board’s next public meeting is expected to include a short agenda item for public comment, and parents have already indicated they plan to attend.
In the meantime, the incident has sparked a familiar conversation among parents: how much improvisation is acceptable when a substitute is trying to manage a classroom. Everyone seems to agree that teaching is hard, middle schoolers are unpredictable, and nobody wants a boring day. But most families draw the line at anything that turns a classroom into an obstacle course—especially when the kids can’t see the obstacles.
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