Girl, 6, Handcuffed, Committed Because Of Classroom Behavior

[classicman]

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Port St. Lucie first-grade student was handcuffed and committed to a mental health facility because of her classroom behavior, and her parents are furious that the school took such extreme measures.

Mickey Shalansky explained Wednesday what he said happened to his 6-year-old daughter at Parkway Elementary.

"She couldn't put her in two handcuffs because her wrists are that small, so she put them both in the same handcuff and left marks on my daughter's arms," Shalansky told WPBF 25 News' Bob Kaple.

But a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office report paints a much different picture.

Deputies said his daughter, Haley, got upset and stormed out her classroom when her teacher asked her to do something. The report said it then escalated into a temper tantrum in the principal's office.
According to the incident report, a deputy said Haley was out of control. It said she "kicked the wall, went over to the desk and threw the calculator, electric pencil sharpener, telephone, container of writing utensils and other objects across the desk."

She was then handcuffed.

"I don't think it should have had to come to this -- you know, to put a little girl, 6 years old, 37 pounds in handcuffs and take her away in a police car," Shalansky said.

Even worse is what happened the next day, Haley's parents said.

A deputy was called to the school again after Haley had another tantrum in the classroom and principal's office.
The sheriff's report said she was yelling, throwing things and hit the principal, who is eight months pregnant. This time, she wasn't handcuffed. She was committed to a mental facility.

"I was terrified," mother Kathy Franklin said. "I left work crying, terrified. Where is my baby? What are they doing with my baby?"

Haley's parents said their daughter has a temper problem, but has no history of mental illness. Her mother said the school should have called her so she could pick up her daughter rather than have her committed.

"They have looked at her here," Franklin said of the New Horizons mental health facility. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my child. I work in daycare. I know what a child that has problems -- you know, I know how to deal with them. I know what they act like."

Shalansky said to have his daughter committed is "just wrong."

The report also said the school has contacted Haley's parents several times about setting up a meeting to discuss her behavior, but they have never shown up.

Franklin said she was supposed to meet with school officials Tuesday but had to cancel because she had car problems.

Link

The kid is 37 pounds and the put her in handcuffs? Then the next day they had her committed? WOW.

There must be a lot more to this than just this story. I mean how bad do things have to get before a school full of adults has to get the police and a mental facility involved?

[glatt]

"the school has contacted Haley's parents several times about setting up a meeting to discuss her behavior, but they have never shown up."

[classicman]

I read that too - last time was Tuesday - mom had car problems.

Still - she is 6 and weighs 37lbs.

[wolf]

At age 6, it's a little difficult to have a "mental health history," or much of any history for that matter.

I take calls from parents of children as young as 3 who are doing this sort of thing. Frankly, they should have gone the commitment route the first day, rather than letting there be a second. I've had a 10 year old destroy a secure interview room. I don't have a problem with handcuffs or restraints or forcible medication when a kid is that out of control. Obviously the school can't shoot the kid up, but you work with what you have, including having a staff member do a physical hold to restrain. Been there, done that. The school is responsible for the safety of ALL the children in the classroom, not just the one who is flipping out.

Unfortunately a couple of weeks of hospitalization will not cure the previous 6 years of ineffective parenting.

[Shawnee123]

Bullshit parents...simple enough. Probably the only way that kid will get any help.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by classicman

Still - she is 6 and weighs 37lbs.

For comparison, my 3.5 year old weighs 37 lbs. This girl is malnourished, among other things--which isn't necessarily an indication that her parents don't feed her, a metabolic disorder may go hand-in-hand with her behavioral problems. Either way, I'm all for the school taking whatever measures it needs to. I actually like the option of committing the girl better than arresting her, since there's really nothing the cops can do to a kid but try to scare them straight, and that usually doesn't work anyway.

[classicman]

I guess I was thinking that they would call the parents FIRST to come get her. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Thats a part of the story that isn't there.
I would expect that from my kids school. Then again I'd have been up the schools ass long before it got to this point.

[Spexxvet]

It's a no-win situation for the school.

[Shawnee123]

"My kid does no wrong. My kid is perfect."

Yep, I've seen the products of those parenting skills. Kids grow up feeling entitled and unable to fight their own battles except through use of violence or running back to mommy or daddy. Doesn't do the kid any favors.

[Sundae]

There is definitely something missing from the story there.
The little girl came home from school with marks on her wrists from handcuffs and they sent her back the next day?

I would at least have accompanied my child to school for a face to face meeting at that point. BEFORE allowing her back in the classroom.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

I would at least have accompanied my child to school for a face to face beating at that point.

[classicman]

In a shocking and unusual incident, a 12-year-old school girl has been arrested for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker.

The New York City middle school student reportedly was put in metal handcuffs, not the plastic ties often used, and taken to a police station for her offence.

Alexa Gonzalez, a seventh grader at Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills, was hauled out of school in handcuffs, the Daily News reported on Friday.

Handcuffed for minor infractions - According to a report from MyFox National, a Queens girl was not only hauled off in handcuffs, she was even patted down by officers.

Gonzalez told the Daily News that she was scribbling a few words on her desk Monday while waiting for her Spanish teacher to pass out homework.

She allegedly scribbled: "I love my friends Abby and Faith," adding the phrases "Lex was here. 2/1/10" and a smiley face.

The girl says she scribbled using a lime-green erasable marker and that the doodles could have been erased. But, she was suspended when an offending item was found with her.

Link
I wonder what the "offending item was. Surely it wasn't just a marker, right?
I mean they must have found drugs or something.

[monster]

The missing part of the story is that the parents are worse than useless. If my kid behaved that way, I'd prefer they handcuffed him before he seriously hurt himself or someone else, for a start. (yes we all know which kid, and no, we're not far off....
) The age and weight have NOTHING to do with it. (Neither does the pregnancy of the principal.)

The parents are too stupid to realize that they are to blame and that's why they've gone to the press, They don't care about the kid, they want their 15 minutes and see this as a perfect vehicle. And this Junk Reporter is lapping it up. If the principal's pregnancy makes her more vulnerable, then she shouldn't be doing the job. But it doesn't, seeing as she took the right course of action, so it was sensationalism to mention it.

[monster]

Originally Posted by classicman

Link
I wonder what the "offending item was. Surely it wasn't just a marker, right?
I mean they must have found drugs or something.

terrible grammar. It was the student who was offending, not the marker.

[tw]

Originally Posted by monster

) The age and weight have NOTHING to do with it.

6 years old and only 37 pounds (17 kilograms)? That does not imply a serious problem?

A kid so uncontrollable that the teacher, then the principal, then the cops all found her too troubled to handle?

A problem so serious and the parents made no effort to discuss the problem immediately or seek a solution?

A child considered so traumatic that professionals considered immediate psychiatric evaluation necessary?

Every number implies something seriously wrong. And parents are abetting that problem by ignoring it - if not the source of that problem. If your kid is to problematic as to require police - a responsible parent drops everything to address that problem.

Obviously not a problem that anyone here can pass judgement other than to say something is seriously wrong. 6 years old and only 37 pounds (17 Kg)? Why is that not relevant?