Criminalizing First Graders

This was shocking to read. I've never heard in Canada of their being police at schools or kids being arrested except in the rare assault case in high school. But arresting 1st graders? What's the education system coming to in the U.S?

New Aritcle Link

Haley was a 6-years old student at Parkway Elementary in Port St. Lucie, Florida weighing only 37 pounds. According to the sheriff’s officer Haley was asked to do something by her teacher, became upset and stormed out of the classroom. Her behavior was a ticket to the principal’s office where she had a tantrum and, according to the sheriff’s incident report: “kicked the wall, went over to the desk and threw the calculator, electric pencil sharpener, telephone, container of writing utensils and other objects across the desk.” She was handcuffed and taken away in a police car. The next day she again had a tantrum in class but this time was taken away and committed to a mental health facility. The school says the parents have missed many scheduled meetings to discuss Haley’s behavioral problems. The lesson for the parents is obvious. If you miss enough meetings with school officials when summoned, your child may end up in a mental health facility.

[edit on 27-7-2010 by ghofer]

reply to post by ghofer

asked to do something by her teacher, became upset and stormed out of the classroom. Her behavior was a ticket to the principal’s office where she had a tantrum and, according to the sheriff’s incident report: “kicked the wall, went over to the desk and threw the calculator, electric pencil sharpener, telephone, container of writing utensils and other objects across the desk.”

I take it the principal must have been a quadriplegic since this behavior could have been stopped immediately with the application of mild physical restraint on his part.

Of course, the principal himself has been subjugated to be nothing more than a regurgitating feed cow on a slave indoctrination plantation. Only the politica have the authoritay to restrain aggressive behavior.




[edit on 26-7-2010 by mnemeth1]

reply to post by ghofer


Ridiculous nonsense.

I saw in another thread a man built himself an island out of plastic bottles....

I'm going to start collecting mine now.


[edit on 26-7-2010 by loam]

It's hard to tell the other side of the story in this... if there is much of one.

The teacher may of been afraid to touch/control the child for fear of losing her/his job understandably.

reply to post by loam


could you post a link to that thread? I read about the island a few years ago and the last that I heard, the government claimed that the island belonged to them. I would like to find out what happened.

On topic

When the ability to punish or restrain children was taken away from teachers and principles this kind of behavior became the norm. Getting the police involved is caring it way too far. I wonder where this his heading in our future.

reply to post by ghofer



It's funny, they wouldn't even think of spanking this disruptive child. Not in a million years.

But somehow, putting her in handcuffs and arresting her, then sending her off to the funny farm is so much more acceptable.

Normal sort of thing, when teachers and other school employees are faced with "other than normal" kids. That means those that somehow have their own ideas and are "noncompliant".

These sorts of students were around when I was a kid.
I'm not sure why the acted this way.
As for me, I had a few relapses from the indoctrination my ownself. Usually the fear of my parents wearing my young butt out when I got home was a sufficient deterrent.

There was a sort of motto in my house. "Whatever the teacher gives you at school, I will give you twice as much."

I'm not saying this was good, especially when I might have rebelled against obvious bullcrap. But it all did give me a consideration to contemplate.

Kicking teachers, unless they were definitely attacking me for no reason?
I guess I understood at the time that they were always "right".

Meanwhile, I realize, with no order, there is chaos, and not too many learn anything of the curriculum.

I had a grandson in my care until about two months ago. He was Satan on Earth in school his first three years. Put in a padded room from time to time. He had to have a special class with just a psychologist for 8 weeks at one time.

The obvious thing missing to me, in my opinion, was nobody could touch him. Other kids, yes. But they would get in trouble, too.

I begged for the school to allow me to sign a waiver so the teacher could give him a smart whack on the butt. Believe me, the embarassment of that would have settled him down really quick. Nope.

The special sessions with the psychologist and it's successful, or no education for him. WTF?

During that time, with the special sessions, I got emails saying. Oh, little Bubba was really good, until he kicked the principal in the groin. Please work on this with him and explain this is not the proper behavior.

LOL Yeah, I explained it to him. LOL. Ouch he said. lol.

Quit acting like an animal and I won't treat you like an animal. Quit treating your classmates and teachers like they are nothing, and I will quit treating you the same. You want to hit someone because you are angry and can't express why you are angry? Hit me. I'm Papaw and I love you and I want you to become a decent person who respects others. So hit me. I will hit you back, though.

So, work out this anger in yourself, hit someone, preferrably me, who WILL hit you back, but not kill you or maim you. Or, since you are intelligent, talk to me. I am patient. I will listen and not judge.

But if you just haul off and hit someone because you are angry, well, because all these other folks are "not allowed" to hit you back. I will hit you back. Because this is real life. Hit someone outside of school, expect to be hit back.

Was I wrong, was I right? I don't know. However, this 4th grade boy is now a smiling critter. lol. He's happy and unafraid to express his emotions with words. He might become angry, he might say things that are ugly, but he doesn't hit.

However, if somebody hits him for no apparant reason? Oh, well. He's just a 4th grade boy. What do you expect from him?

Handcuffs and the police? LOL Sounds like the making of a kinky person to me.

Meanwhile,I was only in handcuffs one time. I didn't then, and never did have fantasies about that fat, sweaty guy who put me in them. A fat, sweaty woman.......hmmmmm......gotta think on that for a bit. okay thought about it. Nope. lol

But if there was actually a fat, sweaty woman putting me in handcuffs.......hmmmm..........well.........I just don't know........

A sweaty Johnny Depp,,,,,,,,? Uh, no comment.

Get the police and handcuffs and such things out of schools, especially elementary schools! Take charge, adults, and be fair and wise. use some damn sense, and briing back discipline to schools.

The little 5 year old who respects nothing, and eventually fears a policeman, well...........this feeds an appetite for destruction..........just saying.......

at the age of six i had to be forcefully removed from my teachers head (hair) my mum was brought into the school and they came up with a system to cope with me (as well as getting me a psychologist) and it worked OK and i still managed to have an education and a semi normal life (my later school life got worse but that's not important) if i had been arrested and cuffed then sectioned i can honestly say id be a far more messed up individual but the school worked with my problems and found a compromise that worked for everyone. i swear that kid is gonna be crazy as hell in later life. sectioning a young kid for behavioral problems is a step in the wrong direction.

There was a thread posted yesterday about a corrupt judge who had been paid off to send children to for-profit, private penal institutions. This was in the US and not Canada, but I wonder if a similar sickening scam is at work there. The criminalization of children combined with the privitization of the penal system means the more they can "convict," the bigger the profits.

I'm not saying that is what happened in this specific case but if one is looking for "motives" to criminalize children, well, there are already precidents.

the employees of the school system are habitual line steppers. even though it will take up a large part of the school's pathetic budget, it's probably time to file some petty lawsuits. hopefully all of the schools will still be able to build million dollar football stadiums and buy used text books from 1997 for their students. just one more way to dumb down our country one child at a time.

Originally posted by silent thunder
There was a thread posted yesterday about a corrupt judge who had been paid off to send children to for-profit, private penal institutions. This was in the US and not Canada, but I wonder if a similar sickening scam is at work there. The criminalization of children combined with the privitization of the penal system means the more they can "convict," the bigger the profits.

I'm not saying that is what happened in this specific case but if one is looking for "motives" to criminalize children, well, there are already precidents.

Those incidents occurred in the U.S., not in Canada. Sorry I wasn't clear in my original post. We don't have any schools with metal detectors, police presence, or security guards in the city I'm from. At the school my kids go to, when a child has thrown a tantrum in the past, the worst that has happened is that their parents have been asked to come get them but usually a supervised time out in the lunch room does the trick.

A smack on my bum never hurt me and I grew up just fine, thats exactly what this kid needs. Unfortunatly its due to parents that have overreacted and the 68er Generation that we now have these laws ragarding child abuse that dont allow parents like us to raise our kids properly

reply to post by ghofer


I'd just like to say, the cops in schools is a program thats desgined to make schools safer. In the area I live there is a public school, a high school and a catholic school and the catholic school has been known to jump people from the high school. This is the case for ALOT of schools. In the public schools children at a younger and younger age are committing more serious crimes. What the article doesn't explain is if she is a repeat offender.

My ex-step sister, is a repeat offender and at age 7 she was a full blown kleptomaniac and had been kicked out of school. Why is this BAD PARENTING. By the time she was in grade 7 she was stealing alcohol, doing hard core drugs and was on her way to prostitution. GRADE 7 and on he way to prostitution! She's not only been arrested but taken to court , and has spent multiple times in the hospital mental facility, so that she can be supervised, and so she can have a psychiatric evaluation. She is now in going into grade 9.

You could say that the cops are not working however, I believe Child services needs harsher punishments for parents and need to investigate these cases closer because if the cops are being called in repeatedly and having to remove the child there is either something psychologically wrong with the child and needs counseling which the parents are neglecting to do OR there is abuse or neglect in the home.

I feel 100% safer having police in schools, thanks to this new program one girl at my old high-school was saved from being raped in a bathroom, and only suffer minor bruises AND during my time in high school having a cop on site prevented a group of 5 students, who after assaulting a teacher, threatened to come back with guns and shoot the school up.

Xiamara