Along those lines, check out this story about a six-year-old girl Georgia girl who was handcuffed and then arrested after a tantrum at school. My first impulse when I read the headline was to be horrified, and to think about how furious I'd be if that were my child. But the behavior was quite intense and apparently, according to the article, even involved throwing furniture and injuring the principal.
Still...does that justify the harsh reaction? I'm still pondering this one, but my thoughts probably aren't half as interesting at your reactions, so........
What do YOU think?
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There is so much more to this story I would want to know. Having a child with behavior issues I know the rules. First one is safety, for the person involved and others around you. There was an obvious safety issue there. Second is how did the teachers, principal, or others around let it get to that. Behaviors like that don't just happen (some may think so but they just aren't looking at the right things) they build up just like anything. Also, if she has behavior issues someone trained to deal with those issues should have been there instead of the principal. This is just my initial reaction I'm sure I could come up with more.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent point - that these issues rarely come out of nowhere. It would be interesting to know more, as you point out - what were the past issues with her, if any? Have other ways of addressing it not worked? Safety is important, to be sure, but you also get the feeling maybe something is being overlooked for the behavior to escalate to this point....
ReplyDeleteI agree, there has to be more to this story than what has been reported. I've read through the articles and comments. A lot of people who saw the handcuffs as an extreme measure didn't really offer up an alternative solution. It's hard to know what should have been done or could have been done better when you weren't actually there and don't know the history of this little girl.
ReplyDeleteI have a 6 year old daughter and I can't imagine having to pick her up from a police station. I am appalled that neither of her parents could be reached, but I don't know what they were doing at that time. It sounds like the mother may have been home since the aunt said she went and picked her up at her house.
My hope is that the school administration and police did everything they possibly could before resorting to handcuffs. It does seem extreme for a 6 year old. But, if her safety and the safety of others was of high concern it may have been their only solution at that time.
Also, I don't understand why they didn't keep her at school. Handcuffs is already a bit much, but if she was calmed down, why did they take her to the police station? Seems they could have waited for her parents to come to the school to handle it. But, again, I wasn't there, so I don't know all the facts or the timeline of events.
I'm gathering that none of you have ever been a teacher, aide or administrator in a public school. Being totally politically incorrect, I don't know why we insist on mainstreaming emotionally disturbed children. I personally had an experience with an E.D. student who, in seconds, was totally out of control and holding a desk over his head to throw it at another student; I was not happy the next summer when that same student was to be in the driver's ed car with my daughter since I didn't think he should be allowed to have a driver's license -- too much of a risk to the public. I know aids who are specifically trained to handle E.D. students and are routinely bitten, kicked, hit. Too often -- NOT always -- their parents are a major part of the problem especially since they do not believe anyone should discipline their child and further refuse to see what a threat their child is to others. Sometimes the parent is more out of control than the child; absolutely unable to see reality. We have simply gone way too far to try to accommodate out of control people; they do not have unlimited rights -- their rights end when they start negatively affecting others. The decline of our school system may be proportional to how much we have accommodated foolish claims to endless rights without consideration for the rights of others. If one wants total freedom, he'll have to go live in a cave in the middle of no place.
ReplyDeleteI was a one-on-one para-educator for one school year in a middle school about 12 years ago. The boy I worked with had some social issues and would often get into trouble. He was mainstreamed half the day and with other similar kids for the other half. Some days were more difficult than others. Sometimes he was the instigator, other times not. His parents often pointed the finger elsewhere and he was not held accountable at home, which made things worse for his teachers and other administrators at school. I often wonder what he's up to, he should be in his 20's now.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's important to note the parents play a HUGE role in the success of children at school, especially those with emotional and behavioral problems. Indulging them at home only makes it harder for people to properly respond at school (obviously I don't know anything about the parents of the child in the article, but generally I know parents can be as big a part of the problem as the solution). And it's a good point that we shouldn't just care about the rights of the person acting out - but it's essential to also balance that with the rights and needs of all the other students whose learning environment is affected and teachers whose ability to educate is affected.
ReplyDeleteExactly! The point was to calm her down and keep her from harming herself or others - not, I assume, to charge her with a crime. Taking her to the police station was probably out of hand. I realize that's what they do with other "detainees," but this child was not a detainee in that sense. That part, I think, was extreme and I could see how that would be traumatic to the child.
ReplyDeleteI am a parent of a child with "special needs" and behavior issues. It's actually a Federal law to mainstream in the "least restrictive" educational setting according to the IDEA act and the FAPE laws. Parents who do care may have some say on where the child is placed in a school setting but the school does have the final say on these decisions and the ultimate goal is to fully mainstream. (Not that I agree but that's the way it is) It's a difficult thing when talking about kids that we know nothing about and parents that we don't understand. Being in the community of children with special needs I do know there is a lot of ignorance on a parents rights and training how to deal with children like these. Parents often think their hands are tied when it comes to their child in a school setting.
ReplyDeleteAlso having a parent that actually takes a active role in their child's schooling when it comes to special education is not a common thing, they usually are just trying to stay safe themselves or keep their siblings safe as well. I fortunately am the exception because I have had behavior training and education (which is not cheap, or easy to find and it takes up a lot of time), and I'm educated in the laws (I've actually read through both of the laws mentioned above) and know where my power lies.
My daughter is going to be put in a main stream classroom with 18 other children for most of her school day this year. She has issues with aggression and has bitten, hit and threw chairs at people. (she is slowly getting less aggressive but it still happens) I can't say she can NOT go to a main stream classroom because she MIGHT regress and start being aggressive again. We just don't know, maybe they didn't even know she had aggressive tendencies when she started (the girl in the article is in kindergarten).
The training I have has taught me certain "de-escalation" strategies and anyone working with kids with behavioral issues should in the very least have some basic training. It is a safety issue but it's happening all the time with the push to minimize paperwork (which behavioral plans and Individualized Education Plans IEP's) create. I've seen kids basically pushed out of the Special Ed system and parents not understanding their rights and not trying to keep the plans in place, then the children regress.
I do think that resources are limited at schools and homes now and that parents are tired (I'm sure that behavior isn't limited to just school) and that we really don't even close to understand what happened at this school and with this parent to start judging what's going on.
So I'm ranting while my older kids are waiting to go to a sleep over. Sorry it's so long, and if it doesn't make sense there are a lot of issues I wanted to address and not sure if any of this made sense...
Yes, it did, and thank you for sharing the information. It's great to get the perspective of someone who has had to deal with these issues. I can see why the law favors mainstreaming - children with these problems deserve opportunity as well, and I'm sure some can excel and respond to higher standards and things improve. You're right that we would need to know a lot more about the situation to really talk in an informed way about it - I just thought it was interesting and had never heard of a kindergartener being arrested. I still think transporting her to the police station was over the top.
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