5-Year-Old Girl Handcuffed, Arrested At Fla. Elementary School

[Sequoia]

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.

http://www.local6.com/news/4297182/detail.html

Old news, but what is WRONG with this state!!!

[Jack Rabbit]

1. I'm glad they were teaching children to count

That's a lesson little Katherine Harris missed.

[CanuckAmok]

14. No, Katherine Harris ate all the red votes...just like the jellybeans.

This kid'll have a job in Jenna's administration, for sure!

[sui generis]

2. hey c'mon - he saw Pippy Longstocking

he knows perfectly well how dangerous a five year old can be to a full grown man.

[gWbush is Mabus]

3. what is wrong with her parents?

[Brotherjohn]

6. What is wrong with the SCHOOL! Her parents may or may not be to blame...

But having a child with autism, I know these kinds of outbursts can have medical roots. I have a large bruise on my arm right now from a bite my son gave me last week when he simply had had "too much" and devolved into a violent fit.

Don't rush to blame the parents. In any case, whatever the cause, the school should handle a child as a child, and not a 20-yr-old felon!

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

8. Exactly. The younger that they start TREATING them like harded

criminals, the younger they start ACTING like they are. And worse, THINKING that they are.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

4. It's horrible, and sadly it happens everywhere...

this country is developing into a police state. I have stories...

[Sequoia]

9. Click on the News button up top, there's another story

about a 5 year old finding her parents shot, mom dead.

[SarahB]

5. They're tough on crime.

:eyes:

[cornermouse]

7. A 5 year old?

Another reason to avoid Florida.

[Kat45]

10. The pollice were over the top, but

WTF was a little girl doing acting up like that? There may have been an inappropriate response (with the cops), but that was also very inappropriate behavior. I don't care how young she is, she has to learn that you don't go kicking and punching your teachers (or other kids, for that matter). I'd think a medical evaluation would be in order to be sure she doesn't have asperger's or something like that, then the right course of action can be taken by her family to help her.

And the mother's response: "My baby was set up." WTF kind of weird response is that? That makes me wonder how she's raising her child. And the other thing she says is that she's going to call an attorney. I would have felt better if she said she was going to call a doctor to have the girl checked out.

[Sequoia]

15. You must not have kids, otherwise you'd know they

can get upset and angry from time to time. What kid doesn't act silly sometimes? We put our kids in school and expect them to be little quite robots; yes sir, no sir, whatever you say. She should've been give a time out and I'd check into that teacher's methods. It's all about control.

[Brotherjohn]

17. Perhaps she has been evaluated. Or perhaps the parent and/or school...

... is not well-informed on such conditions, or the parent cannot afford good medical care. Perhaps her doctor is not even informed on autism/Asperger's/ADD/etc. (sad as it is to say, many doctors are not).

Sure, the behavior is "inappropriate". But that does not mean the child, or even parent, is at fault. That does not even mean the child can easily (if ever) learn to completely control such behavior. Not knowing the specifics of the case, the only thing that is obvious is that the school or teacher overreacted.

"My baby was set up" may be a strange choice of words, but keep in mind you are hearing an edited sound bite. I know this: if my autistic child was treated like this, I'd sure as hell say some things, AND I'd sure as hell be calling a lawyer!

Luckily, my child's school and doctors are much more educated on the subject.

[WI_DEM]

11. It sounds like the child may suffer ADD

I wonder if this is a first time she has exhibited this type of behavior at school? perhaps she has before to a lesser degree. The parents need to have her examined (I'm sure they will now, if they haven't) and then the school would need to be made aware of the problem and hopefully they would handle it with a bit more finess.

[1monster]

12. Apparently the school is not happy about the way this was handled either.

"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."

[indepat]

13. The moral here is to never take away a child's jelly beans: that would

enrage a saint.

[immoderate]

16. What??? No TASER??

--IMM

[WI_DEM]

18. This is just a reminder, too of all teachers have to deal with

For the pay they receive they have to teach children, baby sit them, councel them, act as social workers, ect, and while there are bad apples most teachers deserve our praise instead of some parents always complaining when teachers stand up for their rights. Many of them spend many hours grading homework or attending after school which often is more than 40 hours per week.

[MissMarple]

19. Isn't that...child abuse?

She's FIVE YEARS OLD, for God's sake!