Police called after 6-year-old has tantrum at school
Source: Agencies |
April 19, 2012, Thursday
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A 6-YEAR-OLD who threw a tantrum at school was led away in handcuffs, firing up a debate over whether teachers and police are overreacting to disruptive students in the United States.
Salecia Johnson's family lashed out over her treatment and said she was badly shaken, while the school and the police defended their handling of the incident.
Civil rights advocates and criminal justice experts say frustrated teachers and principals across the country are calling in the police to deal with even relatively minor disruptions.
"Kids are being arrested for being kids," said Shannon Kennedy, a civil rights attorney who is suing the Albuquerque, New Mexico, school district, where hundreds of children have been arrested in the past few years for minor offenses. Those include having cellphones in class, burping, refusing to switch seats and destroying a history book. Last year, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for inflating a condom in class.
Salecia was accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing books and toys in an outburst last Friday at her school in Georgia. Police said she threw a shelf that struck the principal, jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame. The school called police, and when an officer tried to calm the child in the principal's office, she resisted. She was handcuffed and taken away in a patrol car.
Interim Police Chief Dray Swicord said it was policy to handcuff people when they are taken to the station, regardless of age, "for the safety of themselves as well as the officer."
Salecia has been suspended from school until August.
The girl's aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child's mother to pick her up at the police station. She said Salecia complained about the handcuffs. "She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists," Ruff said. "She was so shaken up."
In Albuquerque, Annette Montano said her 13-year-old son was arrested last year after burping in gym class.
Salecia Johnson's family lashed out over her treatment and said she was badly shaken, while the school and the police defended their handling of the incident.
Civil rights advocates and criminal justice experts say frustrated teachers and principals across the country are calling in the police to deal with even relatively minor disruptions.
"Kids are being arrested for being kids," said Shannon Kennedy, a civil rights attorney who is suing the Albuquerque, New Mexico, school district, where hundreds of children have been arrested in the past few years for minor offenses. Those include having cellphones in class, burping, refusing to switch seats and destroying a history book. Last year, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for inflating a condom in class.
Salecia was accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing books and toys in an outburst last Friday at her school in Georgia. Police said she threw a shelf that struck the principal, jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame. The school called police, and when an officer tried to calm the child in the principal's office, she resisted. She was handcuffed and taken away in a patrol car.
Interim Police Chief Dray Swicord said it was policy to handcuff people when they are taken to the station, regardless of age, "for the safety of themselves as well as the officer."
Salecia has been suspended from school until August.
The girl's aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child's mother to pick her up at the police station. She said Salecia complained about the handcuffs. "She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists," Ruff said. "She was so shaken up."
In Albuquerque, Annette Montano said her 13-year-old son was arrested last year after burping in gym class.
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