Kindergartner handcuffed, taken to police station after allegedly throwing tantrum

I suspect that the other side of this story involves an obstinate teacher having a bad day.

Would this have happened in the school where I spent my sixth year, in 1954? Not a chance in a trillion. The stories I could tell of corporal punishment administered.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Get used to it. This will continue until we all perceive this as normal.
The government wants everyone to know that they are under their control -kids included.
Call it Hitler Youth lite.

As far as the child goes she needs a reminder to her bottom end.

edit on 17-4-2012 by Asktheanimals because: (no reason given)

I agree completely with your post
We will get more and more of this - Training of the public and anyways The Education System is just that anyway.
Whilst we are focusing on bad behavior in schools - why not really educate yourself about what is happening to your kids in school

www.deliberatedumbingdown.com...

A WHISTLEBLOWER'S ACCOUNT

Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, former Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education, blew the whistle in the `80s on government activities withheld from the public. Her inside knowledge will help you protect your children from controversial methods and programs.

reply to post by lacrimaererum


I'm curious how you would deal with this. Imagine you are dealing with someone elses child who is completely out of control, destroying things and assaulting people. What would you do?

Me, I'd first try to call the parents and insist they come immediately if not sooner. Failing in that I'd see no other choice than to find an authority to detain the child. It would not be my place to deal with an out of control, violent child who had already injured somebody and done physical damage to the property.

Sounds like the Police did what they could do. Also sounds like a severe parenting issue if the child was that out of control. Detaining the child was the smartest thing to do it seems to me. Handcuffs won't hurt them and perhaps an example of what happens to people who behave that way helped.

To call it abuse, having not been there yourself is dishonest. Perhaps you just hate authority and this is an extension of your own hate? I can easily see this happening and being positive as long as the Officers handled it with tact.

I also think that kids that can't be controlled are a parental issue and if it happens often with a child, they should be removed from the school for the sake of the other children. It's not the teachers job to deal with that or the schools.

Schools are not designed to teach. Children are going crazy from vaccinations, poisoned water, poisoned food and other various mind numbing devices.

The school personnel, law enforcement personnel all live under the same haze. Pointing fingers at who's to blame effectively circumvents what is really going on.

~is still a rose

ps...children react differently to the afore mentioned. Reactions to said numbing devices are not one size fits all.

Originally posted by stanguilles7

Talk about hyperbole. They didnt call in the 'SWAT team. NOr was the child just being 'naughty'. The child was acting violent, and the teacher shave little to no legal right to aggressively detain.They called the cops, because that is the cops job. To deal with an unruly situation.

You seem dead-set on characterizing the cuffing and isolating as violent, even though there is nothing to suggest it was.

You just hate cops, and likely balm others for your own problems.

Again you slander me by saying I hate cops
What else are you going to slander me with
Already the Mod has asked us not to make personal remarks - but do so if you wish and face the consequences.
Take my words out of context if you wish
I stand by all my prior posts and you my friend are calling me a liar and cop hater - take 5 and think about it

Three words....Lawsuit, Lawsuit, Lawsuit....

The child's parents should have been called by the school to pick up their child.
What ever happened to punishment of sitting in time out in the corner? The adults acted insensitively to the situation and tramatized the child. There will be hell to pay for sure.

Indoctrinate em young so they fear authority! You resist, you get a one way ticket to cuffs and a nice holding cell unless you live in a better area where there is a chance your parents are connected and have means. Gotta love the new America people.

Originally posted by frugal
Three words....Lawsuit, Lawsuit, Lawsuit....

The child's parents should have been called by the school to pick up their child.
What ever happened to punishment of sitting in time out in the corner? The adults acted insensitively to the situation and tramatized the child. There will be hell to pay for sure.

edit on 17-4-2012 by frugal because: (no reason given)

How many more injuries should the little princess have been allowed to cause? How should we feel if our kids had been in the school with her? I'd say it's safe to assume a quality learning environment was about shot for that day..thanks to one kid who has absolutely no self control. Well... I still say it's a parental problem first, but that doesn't solve the problem of a Tasmanian Devil destroying your office in front of you.

What could they do? I'd say they could have taken the kid down with force.... let the kid just keep destroying things..or had the kid arrested. Of the 3, they took the best of the 3 bad options, IMO.

Sheeple arguing about issue do jour...who's right, who's wrong.

Divide and conquer~mission accomplished

~is still a rose

reply to post by lacrimaererum


I feel very qualified to weigh in here....I'm a first grade teacher AND I have a son in kindergarten who is a holy terror.

My son often goes into rages. He has a speech impediment, so he's only intelligible to others about 50% of the time. When he can't make himself understood, he loses his cool. At that point, if I or my husband can remind him of his breathing exercises, we deescalate him within a minute. However his teacher can't do that, so he loses his temper in a major way.

He's thrown chairs, desks, books, trash. He's ripped things off the walls (including items secured by nails). He can be a real danger to himself, his classmates, and his teacher.

As a parent, I hate to see my son restrained while he screams at the top of his voice. As a teacher, I know its the only thing that can be done AT THAT POINT. Safety has to come first, and that typically means restraining him.

He's never been "arrested" but I have honestly thought about taking him to the local jail for a tour. That's how desparate I've felt before.

The key to working with these children is to figure out what triggers the behavior, then help the child overcome that problem. My son's problem is making himself understood....so we have picture cards he can use to explain what he needs. With other students that don't handle change well, we use picture schedules so they know exactly what is happening next.

Each child is different and each child should be treated differently. The parents of this child should meet with the school and come up with an IEP (individualized education plan). The IEP will give specific guidelines concerning how to handle crisis situations. Also, the IEP is a legal document. If the teacher or school isn't following through with the IEP, then the parents have legal recourse.

If anyone has questions about getting an IEP for your child, just U2U me and I can walk you through the process.

reply to post by smyleegrl


It has to be tought dealing with a child who has those problems. But you realize his problems should not be the problems of others. You are doing your best and taking part. You are taking action and not waiting for others to do your job. The schools should have IEP's for kids with special needs. They deserve an education. Kudos to you for being realistic and showing you do not rely on others to train him. I hope it works out for both him and you.

Originally posted by Nite_wing
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

It has to be tought dealing with a child who has those problems. But you realize his problems should not be the problems of others. You are doing your best and taking part. You are taking action and not waiting for others to do your job. The schools should have IEP's for kids with special needs. They deserve an education. Kudos to you for being realistic and showing you do not rely on others to train him. I hope it works out for both him and you.

Parents often don't know about their rights. Its the teacher's job to notice something's amiss and to discuss it with the parents. Sometimes parents are open to your suggestions, sometimes they are in denial. Its a process and can be very frustrating.

I know my child is a handful. His teacher is also a first year teacher, she lacks the expertise to handle him (although she's getting a crash course now). Luckily I'm aware of whats going on and can help out at home. Lots of parents don't have that luxury.

Its very challenging to work with children like my son. It takes a special kind of person. I'm lucky. I have the background and experience to help my son. But most parents don't have that luxury. Its easy to feel hopeless, overwhelmed, and abandoned by the school system.

Parents, here's what you need to know. THE SCHOOL WORKS FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD! You have the right to know anything and everything that affects your child. You have the right to be involved with your child's education. If you aren't getting the answers you need, demand it. Talk to the principal. Do it in a polite way but make yourself heard. You are your child's advocate.

As I said before, I'll be happy to help answer questions about the IEP process if anyone has questions.

I think its great that they did that and didn't just beat around the bush. I hope the kid was terrified and never pulls that again.

It is like the kid who just has to touch the hot element on the stove - sometimes you have to just let them touch it. They sure as heck don't do it again.

this happened not far from where i live ... Over the past few days, i've seen interviews with the child and the mother from numerous different sources ... The little girl smiles when talking about the incident ...

This is Georgia ... I don't know how to break it to you people, but these children are TAUGHT to behave this way, especially with authority figures, and ESPECIALLY with WHITE authority figures ...

Until you've been there and seen this so many times you can recognize it from across a football field, you just won't understand....

The sad thing is, because of you bleeding hearts, the parents will end up with a t-shirt company, and a few million dollars .... The girl will learn one thing and one thing only....

Mommy was right .... THIS is how you get what you want ...If you disagree, hit someone... If THEY disagree, hit them again ... If they hit you back, sue them....

never mind earning it ...

maybe it's just me, but handcuffing kids seems like a ways down a slippery slope.
next we'll be tranquilizing them

I read the Article. They took her to the station and gave her coke to calm her down. Motive may well have been good, but to charge her up with sugar and caffeine laden drink??.

Morally bankrupt, handcuffing a 6 year old justifying it by saying its policy.
Something seriously wrong with a school that cant control a 6 year old child.
Not smart parents making lame excuses for a childs rotten behavior.

Seems to me like any incident there are multiple failures.

reply to post by lacrimaererum


This school and the Police all acted with accordance to the law. All the left wing "Babies" on ATS are missing the real issue here.

The parents. This child acted in a disgusting violent manner which placed herself, fellow students and teachers in danger. She may not have to face court but did commit a crime as evidenced by the charge. So where did she get this behaviour from ..... the parents and family.

The family complained that the child has "Mood Swings" well what have they done to get this treated? Obviously nothing because they would have used that against the school and police by claiming she was some sort of sick kid!

So if you want to look at Child Abuse look at the parents first and foremost for failing to see their child needed medical help for "Mood Swings" and then either not showing or educating the child that violence is not the way to settle differences. Maybe she has violent family members or live in a bad street. Either way it is the parents responsibility to actively ensure Children have the right attitude on these issues!

I see the parents as the worst offenders here, then the child (as she did commit these actions after all but is victim of sorts) and then lastly the school/police. The parents should be made to pay for the damage and clean up bill. The whole bill. It should not cost anybody financially but the parents. The child then needs to be expelled from school until medical professionals assess whether she does or does not have (as best as can be determined .... it is never 100%) a problem with violence/temper. When more aligned with normal behavioural she can return to school so she does not put others in danger.

All the tin foil hat wearing paranoid left winger extremists on ATS just want to blame the system for everything and not look at the real facts, individual behaviour! I really hope the parents or family of this poor child and take a good long hard look at themselves!

It sounds excessive but they did try to get ahold of her parents, the alternate would be what? lock her in a room and let her destroy the place? let her throw her tantrum? sit on her?

I'm sure she won't be doing that again any time soon.. I remember as a kid fearing punishment because we actually got it.. and rather than a scary trip to an adult jail .. I would have my hind end beat .. Thinking back, a trip in a cruiser to a jail and no hand to rear spanking would be preferred

Originally posted by stanguilles7

Originally posted by lacrimaererum
I fully expect people to defend this action by the police. Thats how it is these days.

Its a very sad state of affairs when it has become acceptable to cuff, and place a 6-year old in a cell. This is not how you treat children.
Its a crime by the people that allow this behaviour to continue.

Its like something you would expect to see in some sc-fi film set in the future where children are arrested and prosecuted just like adults.

Its probably safe to assume this will eventually become the norm in the US. The general population seem too stupid to see what is happening in the country.

While I'm sure its easy to get outraged by the idea of child cuffed and held, ask yourself, how is that any different than being locked in your room?

There's a lot more to this story than is reported, and we have NO idea what the child was actually doing.

The idea the school felt the need to call the cops either shows they over-reacted, or that the child really was acting dangerously, for itself and the kids around it.

I suspect the school called police because they didnt want to be sued by the parents for forcefully detaining an apparently violent child. I mean, they could have easily smacked her and taped her to a chair, but then they'd be sued. So they called the cops. I can sympathize.

What would YOU do, armchair quarterback, if you had to deal with an unruly child in your classroom, while trying to manage another 30 or so kids? Just talk soft and ask the child to sit??

My question is, what the hell is going on going the kids home to make it act out in such a way?

Some of you youngin's have such issues with authority that you just lash out at cops, teachers, anyone, cuz your parents never taught you respect or discipline.

edit on 17-4-2012 by stanguilles7 because: (no reason given)

I totally agree with this......teachers nowadays are toothless tigers because they know that they cannot physically restrain children for fear of being sued.
So what were the options?
Hopefully this DID scare the child enought to not act out like this in the future. Children have got to be taught that there are consequences for this type of behaviour.............if parents don't do it then the schools have no choice but to get the police involved. If a child is acting like a spoilt brat and disrupting the other childrens' learning (not to mention the destruction of property and chance of injuring other people) then something has to be done.
I'll bet that the parents would have been the first to complain if the school employees had attempted to physically restrain the child.............

I feel sorry for teachers nowadays having to put up with children who have no respect.........for anything!

I'm stunned at the comments I see here.

Lets get something straight here, six year olds cannot resist arrest and policemen should never feel the the need to arrest one. There is something wrong with the psychology of police today. In fact they are selected based on a psyche profile so its by design.

Also, our lawsuit based society has taken away the ability of our educators to instill discipline in our children and the result is a six year old running the show.