B.C. teacher punished after referencing the chokey from 'Matilda' and other questionable behaviour
A B.C. elementary school teacher faced a suspension and was forced to complete a positive learning course after some aggressive and borderline threatening behaviour.
According to a report from the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Peter Gentile, a Chilliwack elementary school teacher, was suspended for three days due to several instances of aggressive and questionable behaviour towards his Grade 5 students.
The Commissioner’s report details several incidents that occurred during the 2024/2025 school year in a Grade 5 class.
In one incident, Gentile used a wooden stick to smack desks when trying to get the attention of his students or to get his students to quiet down.
The report says that when students weren’t listening, Gentile asked if the kids wanted to “go to the chokey.”
For anyone who didn’t grow up watching Matilda, the chokey was a device that the mean teacher Miss Trunchbull would use for kids who were misbehaving. The Commissioner’s report describes it as a closet with spikes. Trunchbull would put the kids in the closet to discipline them.
In a separate incident, when one female student wasn’t listening, Gentile “inappropriately patted his lap and said ‘please, come and see me.'”
The Commissioner’s report also talks about another incident when Gentile saw two students having a disagreement and made a comment that they were “bickering like a couple.”
Gentile also made some comments about the appearances of students in three separate incidents. In one incident, he told one twin student that their twin was the better-looking one. Gentile teased another student whose parents wouldn’t let them be on camera for a YouTube project, saying he didn’t want them to “break the camera.”
He also told a female student they “could use some exercise.”
Again, these were Grade 5 students.
On Feb. 12, 2025, Gentile was suspended for three days without pay and was required to complete the Creating a Positive Learning Environment course through the Justice Institute of B.C. It was also recommended that he participate in the BCTF Mentoring Program.
The B.C. elementary teacher faces further consequences if he does not complete additional courses on professional boundaries by Sept. 8, 2026.