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
Jean
April 17th, 2012
10:42 am
Well, IMHO she needed her little bottom tanned, but if they had done that, there would be an outcry the likes of which you’ve never heard and a lawsuit against the school and person who did it. Actually, she needed her little bottom tanned long before this. I remember when my then 4 yr. old grandson decided he would throw a little temper tamptrum. My daughter-in-law told him she wasn’t going to listen to that and to go up to his room and not come out until he knew how to act. He went upstairs, slammed the door hard, and we could hear him screaming and stomping around the room. Eventually, after 4 or 5 minutes, he calmed down, then opened the door and said, “Mommy, can I come out now?” She said, “Yes, if you think you know how to behave.” And that was the end of temper tamtrums for him! Didn’t even have to spank him. She would have though if it continued.
bu2
April 17th, 2012
10:49 am
@cookie19
Read Bart, Mom of Autistic, Wovoka and KC talking about Aspberger’s. If the situations they describe ever happen to any of your children, you will know to get professional help and not simply “discipline.” If this child’s mom simply thinks its a bad mood day, she doesn’t understand either.
mathmom
April 17th, 2012
10:49 am
Has it occurred to anyone that this child might be mentally ill? I hope the mother will seek out some serious counseling for the child and the family to determine the cause of such behavior – and I wish that schools would not readmit children like this without some proof of such counseling. Children like this often (but not always) turn out to be quite dangerous as they get older.
Aziolko
April 17th, 2012
10:52 am
Bet she doesn’t pull that crap again.
Sandy D
April 17th, 2012
10:53 am
The police were necessary because too many parents press assault charges against teachers and principals. They are not allowed to touch a child, even if they are being attacked. So, in this case, yes, the police need to be involved to take care of this out of control child. We too often blame the police and others, but it is the fault of the parents of this child.
Aquagirl
April 17th, 2012
10:53 am
Oh lawdy, a bowdlerized version of this story has hit yahoo, claiming the child had a “tantrum,” with lengthy hand wringing and unchallenged quotes from crazy mom and aunt.
Don’t take this personally educators and cops, but y’all are complete idiots to work in your field. Insane parents, insane children, and millions of armchair quarterbacks to call you a “fascist” when you try to stop a kid going completely bat$#!^.
I remember when..
April 17th, 2012
10:54 am
They should have never taken spanking out of the schools.I got my butt paddled by the principal one time in middle school,and he never had a problem out of me again. I have always wander why did they stop that.I wouldn’t mind at all,as the mother of four boys.
MiltonMan
April 17th, 2012
10:55 am
One little fact is being left out here (AJC seems proficient at doing that):
The city council passed an ordinance that anyone taken to the police department will be handcuffed. Blame the crappy elected officials for this.
Also, I can guarantee that the “parents” here are complete losers.
Tonya C.
April 17th, 2012
10:56 am
Aquagirl:
My husband is a teacher. In an alternative school. All the students have mental issues of some kind. And he gets no extra pay for it.
I told him I’m going to heaven on his ticket. (this line is pure sarcasm, just fyi)
Dondee
April 17th, 2012
11:03 am
As many of you have noted, believe it or not, young children can and have become so enraged that extreme restraint is needed. It is a shame, but this is where society, all segments, has been headed for a while now.
Don
April 17th, 2012
11:04 am
sounds like the police responded appropriately to the situation.
Tag
April 17th, 2012
11:05 am
Better than the spanking she deserved.
A Mom too
April 17th, 2012
11:05 am
AMEN! If parents will not discipline their child, the law will…at any age.
rollie-eyes
April 17th, 2012
11:06 am
Time for a lawsuit. Kindergartners are typically 4 or 5 years old….what possible reason would a police officer have to CUFF a 4 year old????? If the kid was upset to the point of tearing things off of walls, she probably has a social disorder or ADHD. In either case, arresting the child was a horrible decision. How did they transport the child to the police station? Did they have a carseat, as required by law? Probably not.
Not only did they overreact, but they endangered the child’s life by not using an age/height/weight appropriate carseat.
The officer in question needs to have a month or so of unpaid administrative leave to think about things.
A Mom too
April 17th, 2012
11:08 am
Oh, and regarding the comment of this being a “brown-skinned child”. I am a brown-skinned mom and I would light my child up like a Christmas tree if either of them acted in that manner. Respect begins at home and that has nothing to do with race!
Rod, Spare the
April 17th, 2012
11:09 am
Per the Baldwin County BOE-
FORMAL DISCIPLINE: The Code of Student Conduct recognizes many strategies
which may be used as alternatives to home suspension, or as follow-up to suspension
or temporary removal from class:
(1) Corporal Punishment Not Allowed: The Baldwin County School District
does not authorize the use of Corporal Punishment in our schools.
Why all the UpROAR
April 17th, 2012
11:09 am
Majority of those who are posting OTHER methods could have been used to restrain this child, Have NOT listed a SINGLE alternative method of restraint. I was asthmatic as a child and it took the nurse, my mother and the doctor to restrain me to administer a shot. If the child is acting out (to the point of destroying property) endangering herself and others, then this was the only logical method of restraint that would not cause futher injury to all involved. We are a nation that has become too sensitive- There are no checks and balances. Parents can’t discipline their children, neither do parents want anyone else to disciple their children. Understand that I do NOT condone abuse beit physical, emotional or pyschological,but we need to draw the line in the sand somewhere. This a generation that has no respect for authority nor elders. We live in a country that is full of greed, we believe we can sue people for anything- so schools and the police depts have set parameters in place to minimize these adverse outcomes. I believe that the officer & prinicpal were justified in their actions. If they would have let her tear up the place and she injured herself, then who would the public/society blame?? You guessed it correctly, the Officer AND the Principal– the child’s parents would retain the best attorneys and sue the police dept and the school. Throwing tandrums are never appropriate and if you vandalize property (that is NOT yours), you should be held accountable–even if you’re 6 years old. If the the child is taught this early on— that this is NOT appropriate behavior, the child is probably less likely to have future meltdowns. We should not place the ENTIRE blame on the parents either. It takes an ENTIRE VILLAGE to raise a child…Lets stop being the problem and become the solution…
Jefferson
April 17th, 2012
11:11 am
Her parents are responsible for the childs actions. Charge them.
parents fault
April 17th, 2012
11:13 am
Ok..then what about the others kids in the class who were either “in the child’s path” or witnessed the behaviors. NO ONE ever advocates for the other kids. I don’t care if she’s special ed, has mental issues, or an EIP or an IEP. If that is the behavior, it DOES NOT belong in the classroom. Oh poor student. WhaT about the other students? No one has mentioned how it affects them and it’s is way over due.
Danny
April 17th, 2012
11:14 am
The problem is our society today. You can no long spank your kids, you see so many parents that have absolutely NO control over their kids, they allow them run all over the place in the grocery store, restaurants, etc.
Whoever came out with time outs and happy faces is at fault. Kids brains are not developed to rationalize any situation. Parents are the leader, that have to instill in their kids respect, order and moral.
I have never heard so many kids disrespecting their parents and just do out of control things. When I grew up you got your ass handed to you by your neighbor, teacher and then when you got home you got another whipping because they neighbor or teacher had to whip you.
Kids operate under instinct all the social stuff is learned. So you have to let them know right and wrong. If they don’t understand consequence they won’t respect anything. Fear at times is what keeps us at bay. We drive cautiously because out of the fear to get into an accident, we try to do a good job in fear of losing our job. So there is an appropriate place and kids need to fear doing wrong.
Also, for the record there is a VERY BIG difference from disciplining a child and abuse. Getting 3 or 4 quick lashes from belt on your behind has not hurt anyone if anything its more of their feelings hurt than anything.
a parent who has been there
April 17th, 2012
11:16 am
Those of you suggesting this behavior is lack of discpline at home need to spend a day in that parents’ shoes. April is Autism awareness month and although there is no mention of any diagnosed condition of this child, the behavior and that of others described in these comments are typical of when an Autistic child has a meltdown. My experience with the elementary and middle schools (at least in Cobb County) is they are either unable or unwillining to deal with these situations.
There are proper restraint methods for a child in a meltdown state which do not require handcuffs. This training should be mandatory for all teachers and schools administrators. But even if they have it they choose not to use it. We were threatened once with paying for damages done by our Autisitc child and hit back hard with counter claims the school was negligent in standing by doing nothing while our child was in danger of injuring himself. By the end of that meeting those people understood what would happen the next time they failed in their duties.
School administration will hide behind their “rules” as an excuse to do nothing.
Frankie
April 17th, 2012
11:16 am
Did aanyone think to find out what could have set the little girl off in the first place…perhaps something at home.
Has she done this previously.
DFACS should have been called in and there are other alternative to hand cuffs……
jarvis
April 17th, 2012
11:16 am
@Danny, given the parents in this situation….I’d be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that this kid is corporally punished.
Beating (as I hear it called) is still alive and well in the AA community.
jarvis
April 17th, 2012
11:17 am
History 360….why wasn’t it a white child?
Spanky
April 17th, 2012
11:20 am
Dondee, you’re right! This is the direction that modern society has driven us! This, folks, is what happens when children are not disciplined appropriately! Let the punishment fit the action… if a child can’t share, take away the toys,..if there is a tantrum, spank that rear-end! All you bleeding-heart softees who think spanking is cruel…well, here you go..re-read the story..hope you’re happy, cause that IS and WILL CONTINUE TO BE the result. Have a good day, ya’ll.
jarvis
April 17th, 2012
11:21 am
Also 360, how is this not “up in arms”? It was 24 hours ago and is in the national new cycle. Did you think before you starting your complaining?
Doris M.
April 17th, 2012
11:24 am
I don’t know the facts that surround this incident so I cannot really comment on what happened with the police officer and the child. But I can say that all these negative commenters need to shut up. How do they know the parents are not parenting; they may be having as difficult a time as anyone. Why call a six-year-old an idiot? There is obviously more to the story. I ask the commenters to walk a mile in the appropriate shoes before making ridiculous comments.
And thank you Maureen for removing the child’s name.
Logical Dad
April 17th, 2012
11:24 am
@Danny, you honestly sound like a sexual pervert. My family and I will pray for your victims.
A Thinker
April 17th, 2012
11:24 am
First of all, the COP(Constable On Patrol) needs to find a new job. When a COP is in fear or has concerns about his/her safety concerning a 6 year old, they are in the wrong profession. Case law shows handcuffs are only to be used when a “prisoner” is a flight risk. Nothing about someone who is scared, in fear, concerned about safety, or just has a yellow streak down thier back. For those that want to discipline( assault) the child; you’re as sick as the COP. An adult( averaging 5′7″ 165 lbs) hits 6 year old child (averaging 4 feet 45 lbs); it is called disclipline. A child hits an adult(speculation); it’s called assault. People wonder why the world looks at North America with disgust.
Aquagirl
April 17th, 2012
11:26 am
We were threatened once with paying for damages done by our Autisitc child and hit back hard with counter claims the school was negligent in standing by doing nothing while our child was in danger of injuring himself. By the end of that meeting those people understood what would happen the next time they failed in their duties.
Which is of course controlling disabled kids, not teaching the other 29 in the classroom.
Minnie
April 17th, 2012
11:32 am
I would like to offer a slightly different take on this situation. This year I have had a five year old student who has destroyed classrooms, attacked adults, sent an administrator to the hospital with a bite wound, has scratched and kicked adults. the child does not just have tantrums, the child will fight adults using fists. He kicks them and will throw anything he can get his hands on. He refuses to participate in any school activities. He has engaged in this behavior for up to an hour and a half. Other children were afraid of him. Even older children avoided him.
I know nothing of this situation, but teachers cannot spend their day handling violent behavior when there are children who need to be taught academic subjects. We have to recognize that mental health issues do manifest in children. Many of these children have been exposed to substances (prenatally) that are having a serious effect on their ability to access the curriculum in a way that is safe for everyone around them.
BlueMoon
April 17th, 2012
11:33 am
It’s called the overcriminalization of America where no one can do anything against anyone else unless they are under the threat of a lawsuit. If not for this, there would have been a 1000 different ways to deal with this problem much better but instead “political correctness” once again rears its ugly head and brings us down even further as a society.
Understandable
April 17th, 2012
11:38 am
Clearly the parent was not doing enough in raising this child, and law enforcement didn’t do this to actually charge her. They did it to teach her a lesson that she obviously wasn’t going to recieve at home. Perhaps this experience will discourage future outbreaks from the child.
unacceptable
April 17th, 2012
11:40 am
I work in Special Education and there is no way that even in this type of program would a kindergardener be handcuffed. There should have been another means of calming this child while keeping her peers and other adults out of harms way.
D.J.
April 17th, 2012
11:44 am
Please ! What gives us the right to judge ! We where not there and do not know this child or parent, the mother said she has good days and bad ones, she is only 6 years old,I have seen children like act like that, there might be a medical problem with this child that needs help in a special way, I have worked with children that are like this, one day there wonderful and the next there out of control when you know this you are trained to see the signs before they get out of control and sometimes you can not catch it and you get help from those working with you, we seem to be quick to talk down on the mother, some parents are in denial when they see there child at up and brush it of as just acting up because they don’t know how to deal with it. both need to go in for some consultation. keeping the little girl out till Aug is so extreme, and why charge her with a crime at 6yrs old, i’m sure the police dept could find other criminals out in the streets to deal with, maybe this makes them look great since it’s a little town.
why not take the child to the hospital to be evaluated then that way they might get the help that they both would need. I have 6 grown children, 13 grandchildren and one great grandchild, a spanking only had to happen one time with mind and just a look let them know i meant business, with the grands never had to, just knew how to talk in a way that they already knew how to act, i did that by pointing out to them when we saw children being bad, i told them froma very young age, I was so happy that they where good children and i was proud of them, that made them great and respect all in authority along with your parents. Please let us not be quick to judge we all have made mistakes.
Athena
April 17th, 2012
11:47 am
For many years I worked as a State SW w/ disfunctional families and/or children. On one occassion I had to have police help me to take a child to a hospital ER for an evaluation to see if the child needed to hospitalized in a mental facility. This small framed child, 6 yrs old, whom I had worked with and really cared about, and who seemed to trust/care for me, walked behind me in the ER patient room, putting his little hands around my neck, choking me so thoroughly that had the police and his mother not stepped back into the room, I would have been chocked out. Once I could talk again, I asked the child why he did this, and he told me the voices told him to hurt me. He then crawled up in my arms for me to hold/comfort him. Over the years I have worked with many children who are violent due to home situations, mental illnesses, etc… and the ages have gotten younger and younger. There was no way anyone could control this child short of holding him down. He was so small for his age, but had a tremendously strenght that amazed me. I can understand why a police office would need to cuff a child like this, for every one’s safety.
oneofeach4me
April 17th, 2012
11:49 am
@Aquagirl ~ if I remember correctly, they do not put disabled children in a classroom with 29 other regular kids…..
a parent who has been there
April 17th, 2012
11:49 am
Aquagirl,
Familiarize yourself with this……..
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html
Tonya C.
April 17th, 2012
11:52 am
As the parent of an autistic child please stop trying to explain away the bad behavior of every out of control child with a mental illness or disorder. Stop. It invalidates those who truly have issues. Not saying she may not but assume she can’t just be undisciplined. Heck, even some special ed kids need more discipline and less coddling.
If you go and watch the video attached to this story, you see the mother is trying to justify her child’s actions. That’s the start of a dangerous path. Because if whatever is causing these meltdowns is not addressed, the girl is going to end up in lockup. Period. Get the child and the parent some psychiatric help. This was not only a disruption to the other students in this girl’s class, but to the entire school. Add to that the fact they couldn’t reach the mother, and I sure wouldn’t be on tv or in the paper discussing the matter in any way.
a parent who has been there
April 17th, 2012
11:53 am
oneofeach4me, see my previous post. Yes they do . It is the law. Those who do not have a child that falls under this law should count your blessings and try to understand what it is like to raise a child with any disability.
Ant
April 17th, 2012
11:53 am
Nothing to see here-Good A@@ whooping needed!!! That is all.
Tonya C.
April 17th, 2012
11:54 am
oneofeach4me:
Incorrect. it is called mainstreaming. It is done each and every day in classrooms throughout America. Sometimes it is for the best but many times it is not.
oneofeach4me
April 17th, 2012
11:57 am
@a parent.. I didn’t know they did that now. And no offense.. but I do count my blessings. I have my own issues, but honestly, there is always someone out there that is dealing with their children and have more serious issues than I.
mystery poster
April 17th, 2012
11:58 am
Is Autism the new ADHD?
oneofeach4me
April 17th, 2012
11:59 am
@Tonya C. ~ that is what I was just thinking when I read the link from a parent.. seems like that could be a gift and a curse.
a parent who has been there
April 17th, 2012
11:59 am
Tonya I was not trying to explain away the behavior of that particulat child. Rather the handling of the situation. Regardless of the cause of the behavior the handing was wrong on all counts. But anytime I have a chance to call out school administration for this type of action I will.
But a cell?
April 17th, 2012
12:00 pm
I can kind of excuse, appreciate, deal with – the cuffs. You have to restrain her.
But at what point, is the decision made to TRANSPORT her, in the back of a police car, cuffed, sans a boster seat, and put in her a CELL??
Her parents are terrible, that much is true, but she cannot be expected to act like an adult, you cannot hold her to that standard. Kids are not tiny adults.
prettygurl1908
April 17th, 2012
12:01 pm
I’m amused by the responses from those who feel as if the school system was out of bounds. When you have been on the receiving end of an out of control child, you will know what the only option is. Trust and believe, my number one goal is to protect myself, damn that “innocent” out of control monster that needs their butt beat!
Ant
April 17th, 2012
12:04 pm
Tonya C.-well said.I was disgusted by the video because it just shows another example of people not taking responsibility for their actions or the actions of their children.(Bad DAY??).If they(her parents) don’t teach this child properly,we will see her again down the road as an addition to our prison system.This is where it starts.
a parent who has been there
April 17th, 2012
12:09 pm
Cobb County schools tried to steer us to enrolling our child in the alternative school as a way to try to get around their obligations under the law. There is a large difference with a child that has a disability and one that has behavioral issues. To try to place a child in the Autistic spectrum with kids that have behavorial problems is a recipe for disaster. The issue is the schools would rather find a way to get rid of any child that is not a high achiever regardless of the reasons behind it because it costs more to profice FAPE and they fear these kids will lower their overall test scores which could lower federal funding. The APS scandal proved this is what is more important then doing what is best for children.