It all started with a lesson in counting. The students were given jellybeans, and when one girl started to act silly, the teacher took her jellybeans
away. That's when the little girl went berserk. The police were called to remove her; they bound her and took her away in their patrol car. The
school officials said that while they regretted the incident, they followed protocol. The little girl's mother is outraged, and is consulting an
attorney.
abcnews.go.com
A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a
teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls.
The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That's
when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.
Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in
handcuffs.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
They never should have touched her jellybeans... Just when you think you've heard it all, you see a headline like Five Year Old Arrested in
Jellybean Dispute.
In this case, the list of damage caused by the girl is extensive, and anybody who has kids will testify they can be real hellions when provoked. It's
not clear whether the police put the restraints on her to stop her from hurting herself, or to stop her from hurting them. The police would obviously
not want to hurt the little girl, and so I would assume they restrained her until she calmed down, ostensibly to prevent her from injuring herself.
Still, I have to believe there are better ways than plasticuffs on the wrists and handcuffs on the ankles, if one wants to calm down a small child.
If a parent handcuffed their own child they would most certainly be brought up on charges of abuse.
The mother is angry, understandably. She claims the school set her daughter up, and she is consulting an attorney. My prediction is that the fur
will fly, and the school, the police, and probably the teacher specificaly will be forced to settle out of court in a timely fashion. This case begs
the question, what exactly are the boundaries of the school's responsibility? What are the acceptable limits of in school discipline? How would you
have handled the situation if you were in the teacher's shoes?