Handcuffing a 5 year old girl - America!

[smudge]

I've just heard on the radio that 3 to 4 police officers in America, handcuffed a 5 year old girl. I switched on Sky News just to clarify what I'd heard & it showed  this actually happening!

Although the little girl's face was obscured, you could clearly see that she was terrified by her the sound of her whimpering/crying & would have been unable to escape these burly bullies.

I realise that this little girl has must have done something wrong, but surely whatever it was, didn't warrant this kind of treatment. Perhaps a good talking to would have been sufficient.

What are your views on this?

[Ouisch]

There are three parts to the classroom video, and apparently most news stations are only showing the one.  I'm not defending the actions of the police, but in the one video, you can hear the cop asking the little girl "do you remember me?  Do you remember me telling you last time that you would be handcuffed the next time?"  So apparently this isn't the first time the child has gone berserk in the classroom.  Not to mention, the teachers are limited as to what steps they can take - they can only touch her to restrain her from hurting herself (for example, lifting her off of a desk so she doesn't fall), or they're in danger of being sued.  The mother was called to come collect her child, and she refused.  The child weighed over 60 lbs. and was punching and kicking any adult that came near her, as well as destroying everything in the room she could get her hands on.  It doesn't seem like there was much that could be done other than restraining her.  By the way, these were not local or city police, but campus police that work for the school.

[Dark Angel]

When I first saw the post I was horrified at what happened. But considering what Ouisch said, though personally I don;t like what happened, maybe there was no choice but to call campus police - this was not real police.

I worked as a classroom assistant for a short time, and there was a girl who wouldn't come into the classroom on days that she didn't feel like it. She would just sit outside the Head Teachers office, and did this more often than not. I haven't seen her tantrums but she's supposed to have once headbutted a classroom assistant. And she was known to use foul language if you came down hard on her. So I suppose you need to be in the teacher's situation to know what you will do.

[xixsy]

Quisch - you should get your facts straight.

The girls mother could not come right away - it would take her about 75 minutes.

The girl seems to gaining weight by the minute. I read in an article that she was 40 pounds. And as you say - we did see the teacher lifting her of the table.

The girl was NOT punching and kicking any adult that came near her. There were two incidents, first in the classroom where she showed intention to hit but was prevented with words. Next in the office where she kicked and hit the teacher. So there were still som 29 minutes of video without punching, and the teachers were hoovering over the girl constantly, which by the way was an extremely odd way to try to defuse the situation?

The girl was walking around, she was quiet (but naughty) - and this whole behaving like a monster thing is just way out of proportion.

Finally it was the city/local police that grabbed her. The teachers were critised for not letting the campus police deal with it - as they have experience with kids. The "real" police took her to the station and wanted to procecute - but for some odd reason the DA said no?

I wonder why?

Maybee because the kid was ******* five years old!

That means she has 5 years of experince of behaving in the society and maybee 2-3 years of experince of walking and talking. Do you honestly expect her to be able to defuse the situation herself?

[smudge]

xixsy - well said.

Also, it was quite plain to see that it was indeed the city police that handcuffed the 5 year old girl - you know the same ones who deal with murders, rapists & drug dealers! Whatever next!

Thank you for all your replies.

[Motherlaw]

My question is...I read a previous article that said one of the police officers talking to the girl made a comment saying.."remember me? Remember me talking to your Mom about putting you in handcuffs?" Did anyone else see this? I believe I read it or heard it on CNN.com, but I am concerned. If they had previously talked about this with the little girl and her parent, her mother rather...why is the mother outraged?
Myself, I think it is out of this world. I can't even begin to fathom what I would do if someone handcuffed my child at such a young age. I think that girl has some serious behavior problems, but handcuffing her wasn't the right thing to do.

[smudge]

MotherLaw - I haven't seen or read about the girl/ mother being warned - but in spite of that, my views like yours are still of horror.

That is only my personal opinion of course, but there will always be conflicting interests in respect of the children/teachers/police, etc....

[Ouisch]

Xixsy - I got my facts from the three videotapes and the various local newspaper reports.  If they were wrong, then I reported erroneously.  One Florida paper, however, interviewed the mother who had said at the time that she couldn't take the time off from work to collect her child (nothing mentioned about the distance).  One would wonder (if the mileage report is true) - why a mother would put her child in a school 75 miles away from her place of employment?  How could she possibly pick her child up after school if she left work at the traditional time of 4:00, 4:30, or 5:00?  Even on the freeway, 75 miles would take a good hour and a half to traverse.  And very few schools (let alone day care centers) keep kids past 6:00.

 

If anyone is skeptical about the strenght and power of a five-year-old in the throes of a "tantrum", I suggest they read "And I Don't Want to Live This Life" by Deborah Spungen (mother of Nancy, Sid Vicious' girlfriend).  Nancy had problems since birth - she would scream constantly as an infant, until she turned blue and passed out from lack of oxygen.  In kindergarten, unable to control her, the school referred Nancy to a psychiatrist.  When Deborah explained Nancy's anger problems to the doctor, he told her that "all children throw tantrums."  However, when Deborah returned to pick Nancy up at the end of the session, the doctor's eyeglasses were broken, he was dripping with coffe (five year old Nancy had smashed the coffee pot on his head) and the office was destroyed.  His only comment - "We can do nothing for this child."

 

I'm not saying this Flordia child has the same pyschiatric problems as Nancy; I'm just giving an example of what some children that age are capable of.

[smudge]

Fair comments Ouish - as I previously said, I haven't read very much about this case, only saw what was shown TV & that was distressig enough.

I understand what you mean about the distance from the school to the mother's place of work, but perhaps she's a travelling salesperson, or was at a meeting?

It must be very frustrating for teachers having to teach disruptive children in schools. They should be paid to teach what they are trained to teach - not what pupils should be taught at home, hence doing the parents job for them.

However, I still think the situation could have been resolved in a more humane manner - bearing in mind the child's age.

[smudge]

*on TV  *distressing

[golaw]

This little girl is 5 years old and she is already known by the police.  I think the police did the right thing.  There is obviously problems at home and she is the product of her environment.  Even if that mother was close enough to make it, it doesnt seem like her method of discipline has worked so far.  Every murderer, rapist, criminal, etc was 5 at one time.   This is where it all starts. 

[smudge]

golaw - you've made some very valid points too, although the Sky news bulletins I watched, didn't mention that this girl was known to the police. 

If this child hasn't been shown any respect or discipline at home & is as disruptive as has been stated, plus the fact that she is known to the police, I wonder why they or Social Services haven't taken her away from that environment & placed her with foster parents, or in a home - yet?

[Schoolboy]

From your posts, it's obvious that many of you haven't even seen the video!  How can you make such sweeping statements of indictment when you don't even know what happened?!

It's just not as simple as "a 5 year old got handcuffed".  The fit went on and on and on.  The kid was ripping things off the walls and breaking things.  She climbed up on a table as tall as she was 5 or 10 times.  The teacher had to pull her down all of those times.  What if she would have fallen and hurt herself?  What would you be yelling then.  Some sort of neglect, no doubt.  Off course she needs to be restrained until her mother shows up, for her own good.

Obviuosly, the mother is rearing a child that is out of control.  She sends the mess she's made to the school so they have to deal with her,  then cries foul when they do.

What about all the other kids in the school that do behave and are there to get an education?  The whole world stops when this kid decides to throw a fit?  She occupied 5 people for quite a long time.

They had no choice but to hold her until the mother got there, what else were they going to do?  Instead of just critcizing; offer your thoughts on what to do.  But I guess that would require to much work, you might even have to WATCH THE VIDEO!

Dagman and Kazza seem to be the only ones making sense.

[xixsy]

golaw

So at the age of 5 you have already written of this girl as a menance to society?

If you are correct to assume that she is being brought up in a bad environment, then she should be removed. I hope you are not suggesting that she should be arrested because of crimes that she is liable (in your opinon) to commit in 10 years?

I am unable to understand that you would think that being arrested and handcuffed is the right way to discipline a five year old girl. It blows my mind.

In my point of view

[golaw]

Im not saying she is a menace to society yet but these are the signs that show she very well might be when she gets older.  I definitely agree that if her home is not fitting for her to be raised, then by all means she should be removed.  Maybe this is what it took to red flag the authorities that something is wrong.  The mother should be happy that the law is stepping in instead of threatening to sue.  She needs to be sued for raising an unruly child.  The little girl was not arrested, she was detained.  There is a big difference.  Obviously, no other form of discipline has kept her in line, or should wouldnt have disrupted her class.  She needs a good spanking, if you ask me.  Spare the rod, spoil the child!!