Police handcuff kindergartner for tantrum

[Anonymous]

I worked in a special education classroom as an ABA para and we frequently had police step in when the children became a danger to themselves or others. Everyone was trained in nonviolent crisis management, but that basically boils down to a bear hug from behind. I'm sure a girl with that temper wasn't injured by police or even shaken up. She was pissed she was confined and children, especially those who throw that kind of tantrum, have learned when acting out doesn't work they should act helpless. Fear and dominance probably play a big part in her home life and she has learned to be manipulative.

[Anonymous]

I agree that this child was not having a tantrum. Whether mental illness or a manifestation of some sort of trauma at home, she was in a violent and uncontrollable state causing harm and damage to those around her. How scary it must be at age 6 to be handcuffed and taken to a jail cell, but it sounds like there might not have been other reasonable alternatives. The story doesn't indicate whether the school tried and failed to restrain her or if they went straight to the police, and I don't know if that makes a difference.

No matter what, I hope that help is gotten for this child and soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She will no doubt be in foster care soon.

Why is this shocking to you?

They called the police for violent behavior. No doubt CPS was involved - or WILL BE involved. If the kid continues on this route of destructive (and self-destructive) behavior and if the parents continue to enable and/or ignore these issues she will either drop out (I've seen it happen many, many times) or CPS will do an investigation. It's our legal duty to report cases of abuse.

She does not sound like an abuse or neglect case. She sounds like she has a behavioral issue, not a malicious parent. I don't know why it is so obvious, or why you think they are enabling/ignoring. They are probably struggling very much to cope with this, and if they say anything that sounds like an excuse, it is most likely that they are feeling defensive about this and upset about her being thrown into a cell.

I did not think the police action was racially motivated. But now I am starting to think that some of the DCUM interpretations are. If she was a white girl in the McLean school pyramid, we would not be discussing CPS. We would not be discussing how the parents may "continue to enable and/or ignore" these issues. And we would not be invoking our legal duties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This six year old wasn't having a tantrum she was raging. Even at the age of six it's amazing how much destruction can be done in a full blown out rage.

My DS raged like this once in a public area. He was a danger to himself and to others so I brought him out to the car kicking and screaming. Once we got there I called 9-1-1. There was no way I was going to be able to restrain him while driving home and even the hospital around the corner wasn't an option. DS got in the car, continued his rage, and it took two EMT's, one police officer, and myself to get him out of the car.

MY son wound up spending just more than a week in a mental institution.

I had him in therapy since he was three because I knew something was wrong. It took two years before we got a Bipolar diagnosis and that was after I put BPD out there. It's rare in a child that age.

DS was lucky that he had parents that loved and respected him enough to get him treatment.

I have taught elementary school for 15 years and the only child I have ever seen rage like the child in the article (biting the door knob, throwing furniture etc) was also bipolar. It is terrifying for a child to be so out of control and they really cannot help it. The little girl in the article needs a comprehensive psych exam, IMHO.
I hope your son is doing well--bipolar is so tough and isolating for families.

He's doing great. Thanks for asking. I won't lie and say it's easy but DH and I are sure he receives all the help he can. By the time he goes off to college he will have a lifetime of therapy and an understanding of his illness as well as the ability to know when he's about to go off the rails.

I can only hope this little girl receives the same kind of attention and care.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have good, reliable links to information on children with Bipolar Disorder?

[Anonymous]

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/b/manic/
http://bipolar.about.com/cs/kids_diag/a/red_flags4.htm

[Anonymous]

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-in-children-and-teens-easy-to-read/does-your-child-go-through-intense-mood-changes.shtml

[Anonymous]

Frankly, unless we were there, we have no idea how exactly this child was reacting, what preceded the incident or what behavioral problems the child might have. The real commentary here is how ill-equipped the administrators of a public school are in dealing with what is truly anticapatable behavior for a six year old. It makes me very sad that the adults handling this child couldn't come up with a more appropriate way to handle the situation. BTW, anyone who knows anything about children would realize that calling the police who at that point handcuff and place the child in a jail cell (even for five minutes) is completely inappropriate. Six year olds with NO behavioral problems are still developing self control. I am really appalled that any grown person thinks this was a good way to handle this situation.

[Anonymous]

This child was a danger to herself and to others. She had already injured her principal. The school had tried to contact the mother 6 times. What do you think the school and police should have done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, unless we were there, we have no idea how exactly this child was reacting, what preceded the incident or what behavioral problems the child might have. The real commentary here is how ill-equipped the administrators of a public school are in dealing with what is truly anticapatable behavior for a six year old. It makes me very sad that the adults handling this child couldn't come up with a more appropriate way to handle the situation. BTW, anyone who knows anything about children would realize that calling the police who at that point handcuff and place the child in a jail cell (even for five minutes) is completely inappropriate. Six year olds with NO behavioral problems are still developing self control. I am really appalled that any grown person thinks this was a good way to handle this situation.

Genuinely wondering, what would you have done? Assuming, of course, you'd already tried all the "duh" ideas: trying to calm her down, restrain her, calling her mom, reasoning with her, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly, unless we were there, we have no idea how exactly this child was reacting, what preceded the incident or what behavioral problems the child might have. The real commentary here is how ill-equipped the administrators of a public school are in dealing with what is truly anticapatable behavior for a six year old. It makes me very sad that the adults handling this child couldn't come up with a more appropriate way to handle the situation. BTW, anyone who knows anything about children would realize that calling the police who at that point handcuff and place the child in a jail cell (even for five minutes) is completely inappropriate. Six year olds with NO behavioral problems are still developing self control. I am really appalled that any grown person thinks this was a good way to handle this situation.

Genuinely wondering, what would you have done? Assuming, of course, you'd already tried all the "duh" ideas: trying to calm her down, restrain her, calling her mom, reasoning with her, etc.

The point is, after working with children for over twenty years, calling the police would have never, EVER even occurred to me even if I had tried all the means you described above. Do you really think the child wouldn't have calmed down after a period of time? If the bear hug approach didn't work, what about placing her in room where she could do no harm to herself or others? This is assuming that this child was really capable of doing serious harm to others. Again, if we don't realize that this is not an indictment of a six year old's behavior but an indictment of how adults handled it, we are lost.

[Anonymous]

Wonder why she was in the principal's office in the first place...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's obvious such a child should be in special ed/EH, but I thought that people with administrative credentials were supposed to be trained in dealing with outbursts like this.

I agree; I am pretty sure in Fairfax elementary school administrators are trained in safe restraint techniques and it is not illegal for school personnel to touch a child, not sure where people upthread are getting that idea.

No one is saying it's illegal. It opens you up to lawsuits-- training or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is, after working with children for over twenty years, calling the police would have never, EVER even occurred to me even if I had tried all the means you described above. Do you really think the child wouldn't have calmed down after a period of time? If the bear hug approach didn't work, what about placing her in room where she could do no harm to herself or others? This is assuming that this child was really capable of doing serious harm to others. Again, if we don't realize that this is not an indictment of a six year old's behavior but an indictment of how adults handled it, we are lost.

You're assuming this was a "normal" child. No, she would not have necessarily have just "calmed down" eventually-- and what if she hurt herself or someone else in the mean time? Your 20 years of experience doesn't add up to a hill of beans if someone ends up seriously injured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is, after working with children for over twenty years, calling the police would have never, EVER even occurred to me even if I had tried all the means you described above. Do you really think the child wouldn't have calmed down after a period of time? If the bear hug approach didn't work, what about placing her in room where she could do no harm to herself or others? This is assuming that this child was really capable of doing serious harm to others. Again, if we don't realize that this is not an indictment of a six year old's behavior but an indictment of how adults handled it, we are lost.

You're assuming this was a "normal" child. No, she would not have necessarily have just "calmed down" eventually-- and what if she hurt herself or someone else in the mean time? Your 20 years of experience doesn't add up to a hill of beans if someone ends up seriously injured.

Not if, DID. She threw furniture and pushed a shelf on top of the school administrator. At that point, she was out of control. While the PP may think that the child would have calmed down after a period of time, I've also seen children who have caused a huge amount of property damage in 20 minutes without calming down. So, the school sold have let her do hundreds or thousands of dollars of damage before calling for backup?

I am truly shocked how accepting people have become to emotional unstable behavior in children. Between this permissive attitude and helicopter parenting, it's amazing that any children of this generation will grow up to be a functional adult. I hope that the school sends a bill for all of the damage that the child did to the parents and makes them pay for the reparations for the damage she caused.