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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]I'm just hoping that this is not some sort of new normal. School fights break out every day, and some high schoolers are big and rather imposing.

Yet in the past, unruly behavior at school was always managed without the use of stun guns. As I understood it, the kid in this case became aggressive after being compelled to return to class after the lunch break. [b]Why would there not have been a way to defuse the situation short of inflicting violence on the kid?[/b] [/quote]

Seriously, you can't be this dumb.  That's a gross mischaracterization of the situation.  They didn't tase the student to get her back to class, they tased her because she punched a freakin' staff member:

"According to Principal Renay Johnson, the student, 16, who remains unnamed to protect her privacy as a minor, refused orders by Security Guard Kathleen Greene to enter Blair's building at the end of fifth period. After several failed orders, Greene called Blair's Resource Officer to the scene for assistance. Johnson said the student refused to comply with security and became increasingly disruptive, striking the officer. In response, the officer used a Taser on the student. Three other police officers also responded to the scene as backup."

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/12055

And heaven forfend that a student be asked, or &lt;gasp&gt; TOLD to go to class.   It's completely unreasonable to think kids should be in class, or obey the direction of staff and police.  Especially a 16 yo freshman - she couldn't possible gain anything from going to class (except perhaps avoiding becoming a 17 yo freshman).   What were those officers thinking?  They shodul have asked her about her feelings,not told her to go to class in the middle of the school day.

Gimme a break.  [/quote]

As a parent with a child at Eastern Middle School, I read this situation and wonder if it could have been handled differently.  You are right, on the surface, it seems perfectly reasonable to ask a child to go back to class.  But, I have heard stories from my child about the way that fights and disruptions are handled at Eastern, and it just makes me shake my head.  The confrontational manner and the unwillingness to actually explore what the problem is from the child's perspective just makes these situations worse.  My child has told me several stories that make me sad for the child who got in trouble -- kids who were being bullied but were punished by the administration rather than the administration punishing the bullies, kids who got upset when teachers were extremely disrespectful, kids who misinterpreted a situation and acted out, kids who received differential punishment (i.e. worse punishment or less "flexibility" than their more affluent white peers).

I don't know what went on in this particular situation at Blair, but I do know that schools have handled these incidents for years without tasers.

As a county resident, I also find the liability MCPS is opening up the MoCo taxpayer to pretty scary.  What are the policies/rules for use of the taser?  What are the after-application procedures -- is each use of the Taser being tracked and justified?  Are there any post-tasering debriefings so that the security team can think about how the situation could have been shaped?  Are there any public reporting requirements on use of the Taser?  Can I see on the MCPS School Safety at a Glance report that School XXX used a Taser XX number of times?  What kind of injuries can potentially result from misapplication or application to a medically "vulnerable" student?[/quote]

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