St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst

[dasmi]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/gen/ap/FL_Child_Arrested.html



St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls.

The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That's when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.

Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in handcuffs.

"I don't want to go to jail," she said moments after her arrest Monday.

No charges were filed and the girl went home with her mother.

While police say their actions were proper, school officials were not pleased with the outcome.

"We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent.

The district's campus police should have been called to help and not local police, he said.

Bessette said campus police routinely deal with children and are trained to calm them in such situations.

Under the district's code of student conduct, students are to be suspended for 10 days and recommended for expulsion for unprovoked attacks, even if they don't result in serious injury. But district spokesman Ron Stone said that rule wouldn't apply to kindergartners.

"She's been appropriately disciplined under the circumstances," he said.

The girl's mother, Inda Akins, said she is consulting an attorney.

"She's never going back to that school," Akins said. "They set my baby up."


They set your baby up?! :banghead: :banghead:

 

[jefnvk]

The girl's mother, Inda Akins, said she is consulting an attorney.

I would hope so.

People that can't handel a 5-yr old throwing a fit should not teach Kindergarten.

 

[41mag]

The response was not appropriate!

That belligerent 40lb five year old girl should have been pepper sprayed,tased,strapped down,& catheterized!

This is a police state & we will not allow five years olds to have tantrums!Ever!

 

[El Tejon]

No, those aren't my jelly beans. I was just holding them for a, um, er, friend. Yeah, a friend.

A 5 year old terrorizes an entire school full of "adults."

Truly we are living in the Age of the Wimp.

 

[RyanM]

This is why they shouldna never banned corporal punishment.

But nooo, some people just can't handle the distinction between positive punishment* and abuse.

*Positive punishment means punishing by adding a negative stimulus of some sort, like spanking or whatever. Negative punishment is removing a positive stimulus, like time-out. Positive rewarding is adding a positive stimulus, direct reward. Negative rewarding is removing a negative stimulus.

Yet somehow "positive reinforcement" (meaningless catchphrase yay) involves the using most effective reward system for things as small as not attempting to murder your sister that day, while saving the least effective punishing system for a last resort. Sheesh.

 

[mr.trooper]

"campus police routinely deal with children and are trained to calm them in such situations."

YES! pacify the little brat and bow to her will! thats the way to raise a proper child!

i agree that the arest was WAY overreacting. that child should have been slaped and sat in the corner. and if she got out of the corner, duct taped to the chair till he parents came to pick her up.

i love her responce wen arrested: "i dont want to go to jail". still not sorry for what she did, only sorry that her actions had consiquences (probably for the first time, judging by mommys "they set my child up" responce). What a brat.

If i had yelled at the teacher, destroyed soemone elses property, and phisicaly attacked the teacher, my principal would have clubed me up side the head and spanked me, and then sent me home..where i could have gotten another spanking from my mom...and another spanking fom my dad wen HE got home.

kids these days

 

[Pilgrim]

I would hope so.

People that can't handel a 5-yr old throwing a fit should not teach Kindergarten.

I think mother is the type of person who would retain an attorney regardless of how her little darling was handled. I rather suspect little darling throws these kind of fits all the time at home.

Pilgrim

 

[mr.trooper]

Exactly...

i wouldnt be supprised if te little "Angel" Grew up to be a slasher who murdered multiple people with a butcher knife...

And momy would still have an attournie on hand to help her "Angel" who was Obviously "set up" by the "oppressive" police.

 

[mtnbkr]

There's not much you can do to "handle" a 5yo in the middle of a physical temper tantrum that would be allowed in a school setting.

"Age of the Wimp" has nothing to do with it. Unless it's brave and macho to risk your job and a lawsuit over some 5yo's tantrum.

Chris

 

[Leatherneck]

"We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent.

Then don't call the cops, Dimwit! Do your job!

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[Abby]

Heck, the kid was LUCKY. Down in Miami I think they're using tasers on infants now. Of course, up here in Central Florida, we're much more civilized.

 

[michiganfan]

You know I am one of those personal injury trial lawyers that everybody hates and for my two cents the kid got just what she deserved. I wouldn't take the case.

 

[2nd Amendment]

A 5 year old deserves to be cuffed and stuffed. Thanks for reinforcing the stereotype there...

Regardless, I am actually happy to see these incidents. They are the ugly reality-adjusting hiccup in the incrementalism that has and continues to redefine society. You can talk about "Zero Tolerance" and stupid-cop-tricks and whatever, but something like this makes people sit up and notice...sometimes. *sigh*

 

[Standing Wolf]

That's when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.

See? It was the teacher's fault. If you always give children everything they want, they'll grow up to be good socialist looters.

 

[Wildalaska]

Kids old enough to do damage, should be old enough to get restrained.

WildseemsreasonablehereAlaska

 

[spacemanspiff]

see what all the hippy parenting get you? kids that have no respect for anyone else. kids that expect the world to do whatever they desire.



i'll make a terrible father. not only will i dictate to my kids what they 'need' and ignore their 'wants', i'll also have paddling sticks custom made for when they do act up. yes, i will spank my kids.



but first i gotta find a woman sucker enough, oops, i mean, i need to find 'the one and only' woman that completes me.

 

[Combat-wombat]

She's a friggin' five year old! I can't believe anyone would suggest that this "seems reasonable" for a 40 pound girl. I doubt she could have done much damage, if any, to anyone. She could have been easily restrained without handcuffs or police presence.

Even as I take into consideration that the teacher couldn't have done it without fear of legal reprocussion, it still pisses me off greatly that calling the police was the only option in today's soceity of whiney soccer moms and lawsuits.

 

[deej]

i love her responce wen arrested: "i dont want to go to jail". still not sorry for what she did, only sorry that her actions had consiquences (probably for the first time, judging by mommys "they set my child up" responce). What a brat.

So basically you're saying she's developmentally normal for her age?

 

[spacemanspiff]

devils advocate says that if a member of the school staff had restrained the girl, there would be allegations of assault, either physical or sexual.

i wonder when the mugshots will be posted? maybe the kid has some 'gang ink'? a teardrop tat?

 

[dasmi]

The parent probably never tells the girl no.
The schools don't tell kids no.
The mother is an idiot. "They set my baby up?"
Please.

 

[Spreadfire Arms]

ditto what Leatherneck said in regards to:

"While police say their actions were proper, school officials were not pleased with the outcome.

"We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent."

I think it is awful convenient for the school, which is run by professional adults who are used to dealing with children, from the administrators on down to the teaching staff, to call the cops and wish the situation away. then when the cops do their job all of a sudden they jump in to Monday Morning Quarterback the situation.

i suspect they called the police because they wanted to clean their hands of the mess. they can't restrain her or otherwise control a 5-year-old so they call the police and criticize them when they themselves could not handle a 5-year-old.

now the mom is thinking about filing a civil suit? how about disciplining your child? if she was disciplined at home she wouldn't have thought it was okay to exert physical violence on others. how about if my kid (which i dont have, but let's say an imaginary kid) had to go to school with your daughter, lady, and because you didn't discipline your kid, my kid got injured when she threw stuff everywhere and something hit my kid? the cops did the right thing. they did what the mother should have done in the first place. failure to remove the child from the room could have caused undue injury to the other children and to herself. there are no grounds for a lawsuit.

geez louise.

 

[wasrjoe]

It's not that the teachers couldn't handle the situation. They were afraid to. This was probably the type of parent who defends whatever her child does and threatens to sue over the slightest punishment. What do you expect the teachers to do in a situation like this? Restrain the child yourself and risk being bitten/scratched and then probably be sued and lose your job?

This is speculation without all the facts, of course, but I have a strong hunch that this had nothing to do with the teachers being "wimps". Unless you call not wanting to lose your job and your money and huge chunks of your time for the next few years being a wimp.

"She's never going back to that school," Akins said. "They set my baby up."

Yeah, the teachers just bribed all the other kids at school with jelly beans to lie about her little baby so that she would get sent to the slammer.

 

[wasrjoe]

"While police say their actions were proper, school officials were not pleased with the outcome.

"We never want to have 5-year-old children arrested," said Michael Bessette, the district's Area III superintendent."

To me, that doesn't say that the superintendent is upset with the police. She was simply saying she was upset that it came to that point.

Though far be it from me to suggest that management doing a CYA is out of the question.

 

[Bobarino]

gotta go with WildAlaska on this one. if the parents aren't effectively disciplining the little brat, and teachers certainly aren't allowed to do it, then i have no problem with finding alternate methods of instilling the fear of god the kid. its pathetic that it took the police to do so. this is the jb of parents and teachers. of course, if th kid's parents actually punished her, the kid would probably get her own lawyer and sue her parents.

Bobby

 

[Wildalaska]

She's a friggin' five year old! I can't believe anyone would suggest that this "seems reasonable" for a 40 pound girl. I doubt she could have done much damage, if any, to anyone. She could have been easily restrained without handcuffs or police presence.

How do you know? Were ya there? Ya think the cops are just jack booted thugs who get their jollies over cuffin little kids? Ya think police in this place have nothing better to do...???

Isnt it likely that this kid was out of control and in danger of hurting herself and others? Didnt the school feel that this situation warranted police intervention, they called em, right? And the cops made a judgement that this intrusion on the poor kids freedom was justified didnt they.?They were on the scene, so were the cops, you werent, neither was I....

We shouild rename this part of the Board "Second Guess Everyone Based on News Reports"

WildandwhatsitgottodowithgunsAlaska