MC police pick up ESS 5 year old; harass & assault him

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher, and have had several students with similar behaviors (at the beginning of the school year, in non-COVID times). The primary focus is to contain the situation and make sure everyone is safe. When you have a child in your class that elopes, it should be a code red issue, and there should be a para dedicated to working with this child.

Pulling this out because I think it is very relevant that this child was a Kindergartner who appears to have not been in the system (Child Find or Head Start) until beginning K. Speaking from experience, it is next to impossible to get an additional 1 to 1 paraprofessional allocation after the start of the school year. It takes massive amounts of documentation, which probably explains the teacher videotaping the child's violent meltdown in the classroom, and a savvy administrator to get MCPS to cough up an extra allocation.

It appears that this child needed more help than a mainstream elementary school can provide. That's fine, and is not a slander against the child. He needs help. But the system is set up so that help is almost impossible to access mid-year. I fault the school for a lot of things here, but not the fact that they couldn't magic up an additional paraprofessional spot in the middle of the school year for a child who had only been in the public school system for four months at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the police officer transporting the child without a proper car seat?

A child hits another with a clipboard.
A child grabs another by the hair and slams their head.
A child hits the teacher.
A child breaks a $1000 computer.
A child leaves school property.
An officer of the law gets in that child’s face and screams at them and taunts them.
An officer of the law tells a child they are bad and encourages mom to whoop that child.
An officer of the law test drives a pair of handcuffs on a five year old.
A mom tells officers and a staff member she can’t beat her child because she’ll lose custody or go to jail but otherwise would.
A mom is suing the MCPD after joking around and smiling at the end of this debacle...

And you are concerned that a five and 1/2 year old is drive 2 blocks without a seatbelt? GMAFB!

This x 1000
Its all bad news. There was much more said than that. Those cops should be fired. That mom should get CPS in home help given the behavior of the child and mandated counseling.

Why is the adult in the room/who ever she is not talking to the child helping him calm down and guide him through the situation? The police scream at the kid but don't engage them and act like fools. The other adult is not helping the child either.

You forgot where mom strips the kid to show officers.
All the inappropriate conversations in front of the kid. Joking and laughing instead of talking to the child appropriately about behavior. They can call the kid bad but can't talk to the child about appropriate behavior. Get down on his level and talk to him calmly.
The name calling by the officers.
Those staff seem horrible. No wonder the kid is running.
Mom has no clue how to parent. She buys him toys then has them throw it away. She spanks and bribes but not work with him on behavior.
The police counseling was inappropriate. They have nothing to offer.
Mother calling kid retarded and other stuff. How she spoke to her child was just as terrible. The all three fed into each other.
No one is teaching this kid deescalation and alternatives to anger and frustration and how to get needs met. No one is listening to him, just yelling.
Mom knows he needs a therapist, didn't get him therapy and saying he doesn't need it.
Mom blaming the school and they are clearly part of the problem but he needs a different school environment.
Mom is just as bad, if not worse as she should have taken her child and left.
Mom is rambling about her and her beliefs.

No one is talking about the child or the child's needs or talking to the child to help figure out what is going on.
This child has SN - he only drinks pedisure and only recently started with chicken nuggets. She should have gotten him evaluated and feeding help as at 5, that's not normal. Pickly is normal, that is not.

Zero reason for Mom to sue as she acted the same way.

+1000000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, once the child was returned to school, it was no longer a police matter. This was a five year old boy.

Watching the video made me sick. How could police behave in that manner to a child? The police officers should be fired and training on basic human decency skills for how to work with members of the community.

Then there were the MCPS employees. Why they didn’t step in and help the child? Why didn’t they ask the police to leave? Disgusting.

Finally, as a mom, I have sympathy for the child’s mom given the situation. She was called to the school because her child ran away from the school staff who was supposed to be watching him only to become the one interrogated by the police. She clearly seemed overwhelmed. The school system should be working with her, the boy, and the school staff to come up with strategies to deescalate when he looses control. Bring in a specialist in behavioral intervention strategies.

I hope the boy gets the help that he needs. For police to threaten and yell at him like that probably was very traumatizing.

Unfortunately, once police get involved, it's hard to get them to let go. And given how these police acted, I'm not sure I'd want to get on their wrong side either. We have a policing issue in this country. "Defund the police" is the wrong slogan, but something fundamental needs to change.

Yes. Fire the bad ones. Don't worship the unions so much. Much of this has been caused by years long dysfunctional collective bargaining where police unions can hold their worst actors harmless.

Truly, the Chief cannot fire these two even if he wanted to. That has to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are just some of the resources available for anyone who needs it. There are several programs listed that work on a sliding fee or insurance and many more programs out there.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Resources/Files/A%26D%20Docs/DND/DNDMentalHealth.pdf

School counselor. Make a resource packet for families to have available when you meet with families printed including mental health, housing (HOC website), food resources and more. Several good guidebooks like this available. Then, you just need to highlight the ones the family needs.

I work in a different district and all the free services have miles long waitlists. I think you’re very naive.

No, I'm not. Done it many times. For specific needs, you can get families bumped to the head or places like the crisis center can. Or, if this child is that out of control, you take him to Children's as he's a threat to others and they can get supports in place and what ever he needs. Children's has a children's psych ward.

Well then do your magic for this child because he most likely has autism and needs special education services.
Jack Smith will say sfu to parents who want their child to receive special education services and sue their asses
if they actually are awarded services in court. Yes, Jack Smith sues parents who have a child that is entitled to services
as determined by a court.

What magic do you have to fix Jack Smith?

This is not necessarily asd and can be a number of things. Mom is ignoring all of it and not getting him evaluated or help and she may be refusing to allow the school to do it. The school had a meeting for the next day. Jack is out the door. Most of use who have kids with SN know MCPS will not help and you are on your own.

Things like getting the child outside mental health and feeding therapy has nothing to do with mcps. Mcps is half to blame and the mom is the other half. This goes way beyond bad police. This is a bad school situation and parent. Not one of them talked to the kid and let it be the mom show. The focus was her not the child. And, even if you give her free mental health she will not use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are just some of the resources available for anyone who needs it. There are several programs listed that work on a sliding fee or insurance and many more programs out there.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Resources/Files/A%26D%20Docs/DND/DNDMentalHealth.pdf

School counselor. Make a resource packet for families to have available when you meet with families printed including mental health, housing (HOC website), food resources and more. Several good guidebooks like this available. Then, you just need to highlight the ones the family needs.

I work in a different district and all the free services have miles long waitlists. I think you’re very naive.

No, I'm not. Done it many times. For specific needs, you can get families bumped to the head or places like the crisis center can. Or, if this child is that out of control, you take him to Children's as he's a threat to others and they can get supports in place and what ever he needs. Children's has a children's psych ward.

I live in Montgomery County and went through this list myself to get services for my sister and her kids and it is far more difficult than you suggest. I am also very familiar with inpatient hospitalization. Some things to note:
- hospitalization is really for emergency stabilization- maybe they will help you get some services if you don’t already have them, but definitely nothing comprehensive.
- I’ve found the Crisis Center to be useless- best to just to go directly to the Children’s ER
- many of the services on this list have very long wait lists and some are only for those on Medicaid. I don’t doubt that some kids can be bumped to the front of the line, but why would you think this 5 year old would be? There are kids with far worse behavior and mental health issues.
- I was eventually able to get wraparound services in place for my nephew, but it took months of time and persistence.

I’m not suggesting the mom shouldn’t be accessing as many services as she can, but this kid is only 5 and she is probably at the very beginning of the journey to understand what his needs are and how to get help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am a teacher, and have had several students with similar behaviors (at the beginning of the school year, in non-COVID times). The primary focus is to contain the situation and make sure everyone is safe. When you have a child in your class that elopes, it should be a code red issue, and there should be a para dedicated to working with this child.

Pulling this out because I think it is very relevant that this child was a Kindergartner who appears to have not been in the system (Child Find or Head Start) until beginning K. Speaking from experience, it is next to impossible to get an additional 1 to 1 paraprofessional allocation after the start of the school year. It takes massive amounts of documentation, which probably explains the teacher videotaping the child's violent meltdown in the classroom, and a savvy administrator to get MCPS to cough up an extra allocation.

It appears that this child needed more help than a mainstream elementary school can provide. That's fine, and is not a slander against the child. He needs help. But the system is set up so that help is almost impossible to access mid-year. I fault the school for a lot of things here, but not the fact that they couldn't magic up an additional paraprofessional spot in the middle of the school year for a child who had only been in the public school system for four months at that point.

My son needed a 1:1 and the principal put in for one. But it wasn’t quick. The principal had been an AP at an elem school with SESES program. I have no idea how he did his principal job but for 2 months he was my kids 1:1 while we got him a 1:1. While the 1:1 request was pending, he also asked for an assessment to enable my kid to access the SN programs. He told me that we should take which ever comes through first—1:1 or placement. I love love love this principal. He would ask me to meet with him before an IEP meeting and we would essentially pre-game. He would run through what he would say, what the assessors would say, and then tell me what I needed to say or ask. Because of him, my kid is an SN program where he can be successful.

We ended up with the 1:1 support first. The principal and I both agreed that my son needed more support. We finally had the placement meeting in late April. With 2.5 months of school left, the principal suggested that my son not be moved until the start of the following yr and the 1:1 remain. He was one of the kindest, compassionate people I have ever met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are just some of the resources available for anyone who needs it. There are several programs listed that work on a sliding fee or insurance and many more programs out there.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Resources/Files/A%26D%20Docs/DND/DNDMentalHealth.pdf

School counselor. Make a resource packet for families to have available when you meet with families printed including mental health, housing (HOC website), food resources and more. Several good guidebooks like this available. Then, you just need to highlight the ones the family needs.

I work in a different district and all the free services have miles long waitlists. I think you’re very naive.

No, I'm not. Done it many times. For specific needs, you can get families bumped to the head or places like the crisis center can. Or, if this child is that out of control, you take him to Children's as he's a threat to others and they can get supports in place and what ever he needs. Children's has a children's psych ward.

I live in Montgomery County and went through this list myself to get services for my sister and her kids and it is far more difficult than you suggest. I am also very familiar with inpatient hospitalization. Some things to note:
- hospitalization is really for emergency stabilization- maybe they will help you get some services if you don’t already have them, but definitely nothing comprehensive.
- I’ve found the Crisis Center to be useless- best to just to go directly to the Children’s ER
- many of the services on this list have very long wait lists and some are only for those on Medicaid. I don’t doubt that some kids can be bumped to the front of the line, but why would you think this 5 year old would be? There are kids with far worse behavior and mental health issues.
- I was eventually able to get wraparound services in place for my nephew, but it took months of time and persistence.

I’m not suggesting the mom shouldn’t be accessing as many services as she can, but this kid is only 5 and she is probably at the very beginning of the journey to understand what his needs are and how to get help.

Completely agree about the Children’s comment. Plus then you choose where to go. It’s not easy but it can be done. Crisis center is hit or miss on the staff and supervisor. Some are better than others.

A professional can call and do a referral and it’s usually quicker. You doing it in months is normal. This has been going on a while from what mom said and she did not bother to even try.

I think this kid has mental health issues or other challenges. Moms behavior and comments are red flags. How the school handled the child was telling. I wonder if he was a learning disability and he is getting frustrated as he isn’t getting help and not doing the work. Someone needs to take the time as most kids don’t have people like you or I who can manage these systems but it’s the school counselors job to help with resources. But, mom was clear she did not believe in it. She was parenting very inconsistently and that needs help. She either yells, spanks or bribes or is just mean like when she said he had to grow out his toys. This kid above anything needs kindness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am a teacher, and have had several students with similar behaviors (at the beginning of the school year, in non-COVID times). The primary focus is to contain the situation and make sure everyone is safe. When you have a child in your class that elopes, it should be a code red issue, and there should be a para dedicated to working with this child.

Pulling this out because I think it is very relevant that this child was a Kindergartner who appears to have not been in the system (Child Find or Head Start) until beginning K. Speaking from experience, it is next to impossible to get an additional 1 to 1 paraprofessional allocation after the start of the school year. It takes massive amounts of documentation, which probably explains the teacher videotaping the child's violent meltdown in the classroom, and a savvy administrator to get MCPS to cough up an extra allocation.

It appears that this child needed more help than a mainstream elementary school can provide. That's fine, and is not a slander against the child. He needs help. But the system is set up so that help is almost impossible to access mid-year. I fault the school for a lot of things here, but not the fact that they couldn't magic up an additional paraprofessional spot in the middle of the school year for a child who had only been in the public school system for four months at that point.

You were very lucky. MCPS was a nightmare for us. Zero help. It’s very school and child specific. This child needs a school and parent like you.

My son needed a 1:1 and the principal put in for one. But it wasn’t quick. The principal had been an AP at an elem school with SESES program. I have no idea how he did his principal job but for 2 months he was my kids 1:1 while we got him a 1:1. While the 1:1 request was pending, he also asked for an assessment to enable my kid to access the SN programs. He told me that we should take which ever comes through first—1:1 or placement. I love love love this principal. He would ask me to meet with him before an IEP meeting and we would essentially pre-game. He would run through what he would say, what the assessors would say, and then tell me what I needed to say or ask. Because of him, my kid is an SN program where he can be successful.

We ended up with the 1:1 support first. The principal and I both agreed that my son needed more support. We finally had the placement meeting in late April. With 2.5 months of school left, the principal suggested that my son not be moved until the start of the following yr and the 1:1 remain. He was one of the kindest, compassionate people I have ever met.

[Anonymous]

How do we know he only drinks pediasure and eats chicken nuggets? This sounds like an awful diet, no wonder he can’t function.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do we know he only drinks pediasure and eats chicken nuggets? This sounds like an awful diet, no wonder he can’t function.

Watch the video. Mom. She had a lot to say about the child in front of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am a teacher, and have had several students with similar behaviors (at the beginning of the school year, in non-COVID times). The primary focus is to contain the situation and make sure everyone is safe. When you have a child in your class that elopes, it should be a code red issue, and there should be a para dedicated to working with this child.

Pulling this out because I think it is very relevant that this child was a Kindergartner who appears to have not been in the system (Child Find or Head Start) until beginning K. Speaking from experience, it is next to impossible to get an additional 1 to 1 paraprofessional allocation after the start of the school year. It takes massive amounts of documentation, which probably explains the teacher videotaping the child's violent meltdown in the classroom, and a savvy administrator to get MCPS to cough up an extra allocation.

It appears that this child needed more help than a mainstream elementary school can provide. That's fine, and is not a slander against the child. He needs help. But the system is set up so that help is almost impossible to access mid-year. I fault the school for a lot of things here, but not the fact that they couldn't magic up an additional paraprofessional spot in the middle of the school year for a child who had only been in the public school system for four months at that point.

You were very lucky. MCPS was a nightmare for us. Zero help. It’s very school and child specific. This child needs a school and parent like you.

My son needed a 1:1 and the principal put in for one. But it wasn’t quick. The principal had been an AP at an elem school with SESES program. I have no idea how he did his principal job but for 2 months he was my kids 1:1 while we got him a 1:1. While the 1:1 request was pending, he also asked for an assessment to enable my kid to access the SN programs. He told me that we should take which ever comes through first—1:1 or placement. I love love love this principal. He would ask me to meet with him before an IEP meeting and we would essentially pre-game. He would run through what he would say, what the assessors would say, and then tell me what I needed to say or ask. Because of him, my kid is an SN program where he can be successful.

We ended up with the 1:1 support first. The principal and I both agreed that my son needed more support. We finally had the placement meeting in late April. With 2.5 months of school left, the principal suggested that my son not be moved until the start of the following yr and the 1:1 remain. He was one of the kindest, compassionate people I have ever met.

Wonderful. Glad it worked out for your child.

[Anonymous]

Guidance counselors are not therapists or able provide the severe emotional support students like this need. They help but it is out side of their normal set of responsibilities. This type of therapy is also normally outside of the typical SpEd role. These kids need to be in a special program, but that takes time and no one wants to pay for the support they truly need to successful. So, we just do the bare minimum to maintain them, pass them on to the next school, and hope they get the support they need or they grow out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the police officer transporting the child without a proper car seat?

A child hits another with a clipboard.
A child grabs another by the hair and slams their head.
A child hits the teacher.
A child breaks a $1000 computer.
A child leaves school property.
An officer of the law gets in that child’s face and screams at them and taunts them.
An officer of the law tells a child they are bad and encourages mom to whoop that child.
An officer of the law test drives a pair of handcuffs on a five year old.
A mom tells officers and a staff member she can’t beat her child because she’ll lose custody or go to jail but otherwise would.
A mom is suing the MCPD after joking around and smiling at the end of this debacle...

And you are concerned that a five and 1/2 year old is drive 2 blocks without a seatbelt? GMAFB!

This x 1000
Its all bad news. There was much more said than that. Those cops should be fired. That mom should get CPS in home help given the behavior of the child and mandated counseling.

Why is the adult in the room/who ever she is not talking to the child helping him calm down and guide him through the situation? The police scream at the kid but don't engage them and act like fools. The other adult is not helping the child either.

You forgot where mom strips the kid to show officers.
All the inappropriate conversations in front of the kid. Joking and laughing instead of talking to the child appropriately about behavior. They can call the kid bad but can't talk to the child about appropriate behavior. Get down on his level and talk to him calmly.
The name calling by the officers.
Those staff seem horrible. No wonder the kid is running.
Mom has no clue how to parent. She buys him toys then has them throw it away. She spanks and bribes but not work with him on behavior.
The police counseling was inappropriate. They have nothing to offer.
Mother calling kid retarded and other stuff. How she spoke to her child was just as terrible. The all three fed into each other.
No one is teaching this kid deescalation and alternatives to anger and frustration and how to get needs met. No one is listening to him, just yelling.
Mom knows he needs a therapist, didn't get him therapy and saying he doesn't need it.
Mom blaming the school and they are clearly part of the problem but he needs a different school environment.
Mom is just as bad, if not worse as she should have taken her child and left.
Mom is rambling about her and her beliefs.

No one is talking about the child or the child's needs or talking to the child to help figure out what is going on.
This child has SN - he only drinks pedisure and only recently started with chicken nuggets. She should have gotten him evaluated and feeding help as at 5, that's not normal. Pickly is normal, that is not.

Zero reason for Mom to sue as she acted the same way.

+1000000

Agreed

I don’t get the feeling the mom is going to put my money gained by a lawsuit towards the kid.

This is a money grab from the mom AND political posturing from Jawando, who wants to be on the national stage.

This poor kid doesn’t have a chance. My heart goes out to him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guidance counselors are not therapists or able provide the severe emotional support students like this need. They help but it is out side of their normal set of responsibilities. This type of therapy is also normally outside of the typical SpEd role. These kids need to be in a special program, but that takes time and no one wants to pay for the support they truly need to successful. So, we just do the bare minimum to maintain them, pass them on to the next school, and hope they get the support they need or they grow out of it.

Correct but they can teach things like deescalation and help with redirection, deep breathing, and provide resources to parents and helping them arrange the help kids my need. Those doing the minimum are useless and should be fired. This is why so many kids struggle in ms and he’s because their needs are not met those early years and instead of helping staff just stopped caring. If we got some of these kids the help they need early on they might have a better future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is the police officer transporting the child without a proper car seat?

A child hits another with a clipboard.
A child grabs another by the hair and slams their head.
A child hits the teacher.
A child breaks a $1000 computer.
A child leaves school property.
An officer of the law gets in that child’s face and screams at them and taunts them.
An officer of the law tells a child they are bad and encourages mom to whoop that child.
An officer of the law test drives a pair of handcuffs on a five year old.
A mom tells officers and a staff member she can’t beat her child because she’ll lose custody or go to jail but otherwise would.
A mom is suing the MCPD after joking around and smiling at the end of this debacle...

And you are concerned that a five and 1/2 year old is drive 2 blocks without a seatbelt? GMAFB!

This x 1000
Its all bad news. There was much more said than that. Those cops should be fired. That mom should get CPS in home help given the behavior of the child and mandated counseling.

Why is the adult in the room/who ever she is not talking to the child helping him calm down and guide him through the situation? The police scream at the kid but don't engage them and act like fools. The other adult is not helping the child either.

You forgot where mom strips the kid to show officers.
All the inappropriate conversations in front of the kid. Joking and laughing instead of talking to the child appropriately about behavior. They can call the kid bad but can't talk to the child about appropriate behavior. Get down on his level and talk to him calmly.
The name calling by the officers.
Those staff seem horrible. No wonder the kid is running.
Mom has no clue how to parent. She buys him toys then has them throw it away. She spanks and bribes but not work with him on behavior.
The police counseling was inappropriate. They have nothing to offer.
Mother calling kid retarded and other stuff. How she spoke to her child was just as terrible. The all three fed into each other.
No one is teaching this kid deescalation and alternatives to anger and frustration and how to get needs met. No one is listening to him, just yelling.
Mom knows he needs a therapist, didn't get him therapy and saying he doesn't need it.
Mom blaming the school and they are clearly part of the problem but he needs a different school environment.
Mom is just as bad, if not worse as she should have taken her child and left.
Mom is rambling about her and her beliefs.

No one is talking about the child or the child's needs or talking to the child to help figure out what is going on.
This child has SN - he only drinks pedisure and only recently started with chicken nuggets. She should have gotten him evaluated and feeding help as at 5, that's not normal. Pickly is normal, that is not.

Zero reason for Mom to sue as she acted the same way.

+1000000

Agreed

I don’t get the feeling the mom is going to put my money gained by a lawsuit towards the kid.

This is a money grab from the mom AND political posturing from Jawando, who wants to be on the national stage.

This poor kid doesn’t have a chance. My heart goes out to him.

Agree. Moms behavior was an equal problem so not sure why she is suing. Kid was not treated well but this is not sue worthy. Plus now this kid is branded on the internet forever.