Handcuffing an out-of-control Georgia kindergartner. Was there a better response?
UPDATE Tuesday at 1:22 p.m.: Since writing about this yesterday when there was just the one news story, this incident has drawn widespread attention around the country.
The AJC now has a more detailed story online.
That story states:
Police said a small shelf thrown by the child struck the principal in the leg during the fracas. The child also jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame, the police report states. The school called police. When an officer tried to calm the child in the principal’s office, she resisted, police say. She “was restrained by placing her hands behind her back and handcuffed,” a police report states.
A juvenile complaint was filed, accusing the girl of simple battery and damage to property. The police department’s policy is to handcuff people when they are taken to the police station, regardless of their age, interim Police Chief Dray Swicord said. “The reason we handcuff detainees is for the safety of themselves as well as the officer,” he said Tuesday.
The girl’s aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child’s mother to pick her up from the police station. She said Salecia had been in a holding cell and complained about the handcuffs. “She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists,” Ruff said. “She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up.”
The police chief said the girl was taken to the police department’s squad room, not a holding cell, and officers there tried to calm her and gave her a Coke.
The girl was suspended and can’t return to school until August, her mother, Constance Ruff, told WMAZ-TV, which first reported the story.
“We would not like to see this happen to another child, because it’s horrifying. It’s devastating,” her aunt told The Associated Press.
Here is the original post from Monday:
A few folks sent me links to this news story out of Milledgeville where an officer handcuffed a kindergartner for what police said were safety concerns about the child’s out-of-control behavior.
The readers who sent me the link to this story disapprove of the strong police response, insisting there are better ways to contain and calm a hysterical 6-year-old than clamping handcuffs on her. Afterward, the child was charged with simple assault and damage to property.
I read the comments posted to the WMAZ-TV site, and local respondents split over whether this was an overreaction. I expect we will hear more about this story and a more detailed police response.
According to the police report, a kindergartner was crying in the principal’s office at Creekside Elementary before police arrived Friday. The report says when the officer tried to calm the child, she resisted and was cuffed.
The little girl is accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing furniture. The report mentions the girl knocked over a shelf that injured the principal. Police say they tried to contact her mother but weren’t able to reach her. They took the child to the police station where she was charged with simple assault and damage to property. Because of her age, she will not have to go to court and will not be sentenced.
Her mother, Constance Ruff. says her daughter was suspended and cannot return to school until August. “She has mood swings some days, which all of us had mood swings some days. I guess that was just one of her bad days that day,” said Constance Ruff.
“A 6-year-old in kindergarten. They don’t have no business calling the police and handcuffing my child,” said Earnest Johnson, Salecia’s father.
“She might have misbehaved, but I don’t think she misbehaved to the point where she should have been handcuffed and taken downtown to the police department,” said her aunt, Candace Ruff. “Call the police? Is that the first step? Or is there any other kind of intervention that can be taken to help that child?”
WMAZ spoke with other police and sheriff’s departments. None of them could remember handcuffing a child that young. They say the use of handcuffs would be at the officer’s discretion and based on whether the child is a threat to herself or others.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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499 comments Add your comment
Class of '98
April 16th, 2012
7:48 pm
I don’t know which is more absurd, handcuffing a 5 year-old, or comparing it to the Third Reich.
On second thought, yes I do.
The person who compared this to the Nazis is an imbecile.
Ugh.
April 16th, 2012
7:56 pm
Small town police….strike again.
Jezel
April 16th, 2012
8:02 pm
Just when did our nation lose all common sense? As a child i would have probably lived in hand cuffs had spankings been illegal.
Scary Scary
April 16th, 2012
8:03 pm
With the history this child has, why isn’t she in a special needs program?
This isn’t a case of a child misbehaving, this is a child who has serious psychological or medical issues (autism?).
OldTimer
April 16th, 2012
8:07 pm
An out of control child needs to be restrained. Plain and simple. You can’t whip ‘em anymore so you’ve got no choice but to tie ‘em up. Kumbaya isn’t really an option.
catlady
April 16th, 2012
8:07 pm
This child was out of control, apparently.
Finally!
April 16th, 2012
8:08 pm
FINALLY all the comments weren’t completely bashing the teachers, administrators, etc. in the school and the police and actually suggesting – a. that the parent should be responsible or b. that there is something wrong with the child and that she may need more help/support…For all of you who have never worked in a school or been a police officer, you have NO right to pass judgement. As a special ed teacher, I can tell you that there are children of ALL ages who have great difficulties and can be/are dangerous no matter what size they are, AND they are not placed properly largely because their parent/s don’t want them to be placed where it would be appropriate. Public schools’ hands are tied – in so many ways…
whoohooo
April 16th, 2012
8:08 pm
All those piercings and horrible grammar tell a tale of the obvious. I’m glad they cuffed her and put her little behind out. #tiredteacher
doh
April 16th, 2012
8:09 pm
Why people should not have kids.
bu2
April 16th, 2012
8:10 pm
@bart and PickRPockets
At least someone else posting has some understanding of what was going on. With what aquagirl posted, this child almost certainly needs intervention of some sort. And it may have nothing whatsoever to do with poor parenting. Or it could be something worse than poor parenting.
Keith
April 16th, 2012
8:12 pm
People blame the police, but as an officer what about the parents. I love it when a parent calls us beacuse their child wont get out of bed and go to school. We talk stern to the child and then get complained on because they say we dont talk to out child like that. And people wonder whats wrong.
Meme
April 16th, 2012
8:13 pm
So we all feel sorry for the spoiled rotten kid who wants to always get her way. Good for the school officials. I agree that sitting down should be a problem for her for at least a week.
Fan
April 16th, 2012
8:15 pm
straitjacket I guess but they dont usually carry those around
bev
April 16th, 2012
8:16 pm
Another instance of too much power!! She’s 6 years old for heaven’s sake!! WWJD??
bev
April 16th, 2012
8:18 pm
If people didn’t have kids (you idiots only), this country would no longer exist! Hello! Look at how many people are in India and China.
Walter Little, Jr.
April 16th, 2012
8:25 pm
I agree with “Young timer”, I think the officer was trying to show how “big and bad” he/she was. Obviously he doesn’t have children of his own or he would have known a more age-reasonable method to deal with a six year-old who was basically having a temper tantrum. (I can only hope his/her supervisor is reviewing how the incident was handled.)
Meme
April 16th, 2012
8:26 pm
Obviously some of you have never seen an out of control child.
catlady
April 16th, 2012
8:28 pm
Actually, the best response would me for mom to come down there and tear the child’s *** up. Then, put child in mental health hospital, and get the mother into counseling so she can learn how to raise a child.
TK
April 16th, 2012
8:30 pm
Perhaps the girl need to be evaluated by a physician. There has got to be a reason for her behavior and it may not be bad parenting. Just something to think about as people pass judgement on a 6 year old girl.
Teacher
April 16th, 2012
8:30 pm
It is so sad that this has happened. I used to work in Milledgeville. There is a lot of reproduction amongst the mentally ill. Teachers and administrators work in fear of lawsuits and losing their jobs because we have no rights when it comes to discipline. Kids are so vindictive. The parents come to school to bully teachers and staff. The state continues to train and work to fix the teachers when they need to figure out how to deal with discipline. You can’t teach kids who curse you and interrupt classes. My co-workers car was keyed after the mother of her 3rd grade student punched her out on school grounds for recommending that the child be tested. To everyone looking at this with rose colored glasses: The kids are running the schools because they know nothing can be done.
Josh
April 16th, 2012
8:37 pm
@Once Again – Are you retarded? Comparing handcuffing a physically violent (and possibly emotionally unstable) child who could hurt herself or others with NAZI GERMANY? Which, for the record, was responsible for over six million deaths of Jews and millions of others?
I think a better metaphor/comparison would be, well, ANYTHING. USSR, China, Myanmar/Burma, India, Thailand, Japan, etc.
Since we’re in Atlanta, let’s just compare it to African slavery, to see if that hits a chord. Doesn’t make sense, but neither did your idiotic comparison.
Contractor
April 16th, 2012
8:37 pm
With kids this young bringing guns to school, stabbing people, and other things they may see on TV, you can never be too careful. When you start getting too careful and careless, that’s when someone gets hurt, and it’s usually an innocent party. For all of you babies out there crying foul on the police, how about a little personal responsibility on the kid? The kid refused to calm down, already hurt the principal, and that didn’t stop here, so what’s your response that and how to subdue the girl? Throw her down on the ground and throw a knee in her back, or just grab her by the wrist leaving one free arm and legs to fight with? Get a grip and suck it up, because society today has no rules and it is not fair that cops continue to get thrown in situations but can’t use any means necessary to calm the situation.
concerned citizen
April 16th, 2012
8:38 pm
1. Today’s kids are more than just a little out of control.
2. Years ago during the 50s, 60s, if kids were unruly, there was a handly paddle referred to the board of education. and, kids learned quickly.
3. The reason we have out of control humans, regardless of age,is that all moral guidelines have been either blurred or eliminated. “Do your own thing.”
4. There is little fear of authority. Back “then” there was a fear of authority and what that legal authority and law could do to someone’s freedoms. There were “consequences”. Today, kids do not exhibit fear of consequences.
5. It’s too bad that the child’s parents were not available during the child’s temper tantrum. Children are separate entities from the parent; just because a child act’s out doesn’t mean the parents are unhealthy.
I think in this instance, restraining a child for safety reasons and for helping the child understand the term “consequences” was the correct way to go. The charging her with criminal activity was a little over the top. Children need to learn, not be sent to jail or charged with criminal labels.
gamom
April 16th, 2012
8:42 pm
Maureen…i read a few comments and got sick. What is wrong with people. Hitting a child wont fix the problem. Lots of ignorant people for sure
grandmother of 3
April 16th, 2012
8:45 pm
I am a teacher and I agree with the concerns over out of control kids…I see it everyday….but in this case is it possible there is some other condition the child may be suffering from? Could she have autism or some other condtion?Surely being April and near the end of the year, this is not her first outburst…why hasn’t she referred for testing or a socail worker called? And if this was her first incident, what casued her to react in this way. I find it hard to beleive that she never acted out before.and that nothing has ever been done.
CH
April 16th, 2012
8:46 pm
EVERYBODY INVOLVED NEEDS TO BE FIRED!!!!!!! The principal, the police officers and whoever else that allowed this child to be handcuffed and taken to the police station!!!!!! If I were the parents, I would seek advice from an attorney to determine if this child was violated in anyway…civilly and criminally. This child is 6 years old and this child is still learning how to deal with life and life’s situations. They are still learning what’s right and what’s wrong!!!!! I have seen out of control children before and I KNOW THEY CAN BE TAUGHT!!!!! Let’s stop placing ALL the blame on a child that’s only been in this world for 6 years…start placing the blame (as far as mitigating the situation by positive reinforcement or seeking help for this child in another program offered by the school system) on lazy, impatient, inexperienced and terrible teachers, principals, etc. You should not be in the school system. This situation just ticks me off!!! How did this action teach the kid? Milledgeville get real!!!!! EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!
gamom
April 16th, 2012
8:46 pm
Did you know in 2010/2011 school year over 21,000 incidents were reported in georgia schools AS REPORTED BY 11ALIVE ATL NEWS….ITS STILL LEGAL and used overused and abused in my opinion. It ainot working
gamom
April 16th, 2012
8:49 pm
CORPRAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS IS STILL LEGAL AND USED…PROVING ONCE AGAIN HOW IGNORANT GA SCHOOLS ARE
tom
April 16th, 2012
8:51 pm
Hey why not shoot her with a Taser. Stupidddddd!
Really?
April 16th, 2012
8:51 pm
Obviously, the comments made with regards to a grown man not being able to restrain a little GIRL are by someone who has never had a totally, completely out of control child on their hands. I know that when my sibling was 4 and 5 years old, it took five ADULTS to hold him down in the emergency room to give him medication.
Chad
April 16th, 2012
8:57 pm
Better when she is 6 rather than when she is 16 or 26yo. Right now the only consequences she will have from this is immediate. You act out like this when you are considered an adult or accountable, it can change the rest of your life for the worse. Now she will understand that there are consequences for her actions, and not everyone will put up with her acting out like her “parents” do. Unfortunately the parents will likely take what could be a very teachable moment and ruin it. It sounds like there a lot of others that would ruin it will. Eventually, she will be back in the exact same circumstances, and the only ones to blame will be the parents, not the school or officers that offered early intervention.
Contractor
April 16th, 2012
8:59 pm
CH,
If they could find the parents that is. Your post is pathetic and makes no sense. Not all kids act like this, so the kid understands how to act. It’s folks like you that allow kids to get away with more than they should, sending them straight to an entitlement mentality and that there is always someone else or something else to blame besides their own actions.
My2cents
April 16th, 2012
9:01 pm
So, where is the help the child needs? She’s kicked out of perhaps the only organized activity she has ever had in her life – what is going to happen to her now? I would not have high hopes for August 13 or 14 at this rate.
vince
April 16th, 2012
9:06 pm
Don’t forget, it is illegal for a person to restrain an out of control child unless that person has been properly trained and certified to restrain them……and then there is a mountain of paperwork that must follow.
We’ve let insanity replace common sense.
greta
April 16th, 2012
9:08 pm
UGA runs this state. First in bankruptcies. Last in education, mental health and physical health – in the South! and now this. UGA runs this state – go dawgs.
CH
April 16th, 2012
9:11 pm
Contractor, WHAT?!!!!??????!!!??? You are pathetic!!! My post made no sense to you because I don’t think you are capable of understanding anything that’s rational. Get your life!!! This is a 6 year old kid!!! Obviously YOU are not a parent and in case you were, your neighbors need to call DFACS on you.
Single mom
April 16th, 2012
9:11 pm
The comment that the child is probably from a single parent home – keep in mind that some of us are not single parents because of choice. Some of us are single parents due to different reasons such as death of a spouse, abuse, etc. Many children who commit crimes, use drugs, abuse alcohol, etc. come from two parent homes and single parent homes. The pendulum swings both ways.
Harold
April 16th, 2012
9:13 pm
“Once Again” –How can you compare local law enforcement to a “police state” in Nazi Germany? That makes no sense whatsoever. I am sure, as is usually the case with the media, that all the facts were not reported. And the article said that he cuffed her for her safety. I would like to see how you would handle the situation.
When I was in school, if I had acted like that I would have been paddled by the principal and then when I got home by my parents. Like “Jack” said above, the child learned this behavior at home. She better get used to the cuffs because it sounds like this won’t be her last encounter with the police.
Catch 22
April 16th, 2012
9:18 pm
What could they have done that would have made those upset happy? Talk to her?
If you take a belt or paddle to her, its abuse. And the parents (if they were so inclined) could easily find a lawyer to sue to officer, principal, school system, etc…
The handcuffs, hey that seems a little extreme to me too, but I wasn’t there. (And I’d bet 99.9% of those upset about this weren’t either.) If this kid was going berzerk as described, something had to be done. You can’t just step back and let the kid go.
But I’ll be honest with you, if principals were allowed to correct the children the way they used to, then you wouldn’t have the level of anarchy you find in most public schools. I have teacher friends that tell me things middle and high school students say to them which would get them arrested out in public (and if the principals and school systems didn’t cower in fear from these thugs/bullies and their parents). You know where it all starts? Kids in Elementary not having a good mix of fear and respect for their teachers and principals.
Catch 22
April 16th, 2012
9:24 pm
Single Mom: I have to agree with you. I was raised by my mom and would have never acted out in such a way. I knew what was right and wrong and didn’t get away with anything. I know (and knew from my childhood) kids with both parents who had no sense of respect or control.
Harold: Thank you for saying that before I could. That is such an extreme (and completely inaccurate) comment comparing the “American Police State” with Nazi Germany. I didn’t realize we were a Police State. I guess the SS hasn’t been to my house yet and I’ve just missed all of those police barracades.
Actually, there are some people taking advantages of their freedoms that should be curtailed.
Catch 22
April 16th, 2012
9:29 pm
My2Cents: If her parent(s) are not responsible enough to get their kid back to school in August, then the issue is at home. I’m sure DFACs would be glad to speak to them if that comes up. Unfortunately, whether or not this is her only social interaction does not mean they should turn a blind eye to the way she acted and let her come back like nothings wrong.
CW
April 16th, 2012
9:34 pm
Story is short of info because it does not say if the child was on medication or suffered from some mental disorders. As a police officer the child will endanger others along with herself with the thrashing around. If you try to just restrain the child she may just get hurt. The use of handcuffs ensures the childs safety along with those in the area. To constantly struggle with a child is ridiculous. This is for the childs safety. the first thing a judge is going to ask why did you not handcuff the child to prevent any injuries or damage to property.
Bonnie
April 16th, 2012
9:34 pm
This may have just brought to light another juvenile deliquent in the making and hopefully the parents will seek help for this child before it is too late and they visit her in jail for real. Sounds like she could be bi-polar or maybe just undisiplined at home. As one of you said, a good swift kick to the parents to wake them up and a good belt on this child’s bottom might wake someone up.
teacher10
April 16th, 2012
9:35 pm
As a teacher for over 18 years children are getting worse not better simply because there is no threat of corporal punishment if they misbehave. As previously stated this is not the first time I am sure this child has lost control. She I am sure has done this at home, thrown things, ripped paper and thought she could loose her temper and do it at school. She needed to be restrained before she hurt herself or someone else. Parents give their children everything else why not a couple of good swats on the bottom. This does and will correct this kind of behavior…Oh Yeah and Once again get a life.
Catch 22
April 16th, 2012
9:37 pm
gamom: What, in your opinion, would be a more effective way to address the unruliness of this child? Since it doesn’t state that corporal punishment was used (handcuffing is an exception to anything I’ve ever seen for a kindergartener), not sure how you can deduce that it wouldn’t have been more effective. Maybe that’s why she acted the way she did (she’s not punished at home for acting out that way), we don’t know what’s going on at home.
EAC
April 16th, 2012
9:39 pm
6 YEAR OLD??? If an officer of the law cannot handle a 6 year old after all his/her so called police training then what the hell are they doing on the job??? this is bullsh…..!! and was this girl black?? I ask that because we all know how the police treat black people! Either way, this is totally unacceptable. It’s no wonder why soooo many adults get shot to death by police. Cops cant or just don’t handle situations with any kind of police training. Seems like the only training they get is how to use force. Shame shame shame !!!
Jadar
April 16th, 2012
9:42 pm
here’s the new deal America… If ANY school official had tried to restrain this child ( from the article I assume a “kind hand ” on the child would have not done anything) The official would be facing charges and probably be suspended right now, then lost their job.
Had the officer “fought” this child ,the adult would have won so same scenario ..the officer would be suspended and lost his career most likely sooo he did the right thing . Now unruly child is restrained and not hurting anyone or tearing up anything.
I hate it has come to this but I would not lose my job and put my family in financial difficulty over some ones child anymore.
kitty
April 16th, 2012
9:46 pm
Enter your comments here
Great parents
April 16th, 2012
9:50 pm
Instead of headlines creating a stir like ‘Cops handcuff kindergartner’, how about a more accurate one which reads ‘6 year old goes beserk’ or ‘More parents who fail at parenting!’
bart
April 16th, 2012
9:58 pm
I am appalled by the ignorance of some people who have responded to this story. This is a six year old child. Yes, she has severe problems; yes, her family is probably disfunctional; yes, she needs discipline at home. What she does not need is a “whupping. She’s probably been beaten at home, possible even been sexually abused. She needs to be in a special class or school for emotionally disturbed children. She needs therapy. She needs help, not condemnation. Blame her parents, but do not blame this child for what she cannot help. Get her help.