Ostrich Summary of handcuffing of 5 year old......

[FormerOstrich]

I don't usually start threads on the topics that have multiple threads running, but this time I feel I must.

Here are my thoughts:

1) We don't know what started the "tantrum". The article I read said it began during math exercises.

2) Allegedly, the camera was being used by the teacher for self improvement and it was a "fluke" that the episode was caught on film..
a) If that is true, then the beginning of the episode must be on the tape Why has it been witheld. b) That does not explain how the filming continued when the girl was removed from the classroom.

3) On the tape, they mention the other students have been removed from the classroom because of this girls behavior. Why were they removed versus the girl being removed? I assume the evacuation was on the tape. Once again, why is that being withheld?

4) a) On the tape, you can hear someone say the mother cannot pick up the child until after 3:00 (I think maybe they said 3:15). b) I read where the "tantrum" started after 2:00. c) Furthermore, on the tape you learn the police arrive at 3:00 or shortly after. A few more minutes and the mother would have been there.

5) To my knowledge, there was nothing reported about why the mother was unable to pick up the child until after 3:00. Personally, I don't believe that to be an unreasonable period of time. Many things could make that occur from her physical location at the time of the call, a wreck on the freeway, Her shift was ending, She was having a dental procedure. The cops weren't there much more in advance of her (reported time to arrive). There was not any mention of an emergency contact, if they were contacted, etc. Nor, have I heard one word about the father.

6) On the tape you can hear the cops ask the girl if they remember them. Clearly they have been called about this girl before. Why? What were the circumstances?

7) On another thread someone repeatedly said the mother had dictated "Do not touch". Can anyone provide me with a link to that information?

What in the hell does that mean. Some were speculating that meant as for corporal. Yikes!! Is corporal touching even an option in schools so that a parent must issue a statement? Could someone from the school called and said: "Ma-am your child is having a fit and needs her fanny paddled" and the mother responded "Do not touch my child". In other words, what in the hell is this "Do not Touch" and what's that all about?

8) Once again, on other threads there is repeated mention of the mother having called the police on the child before. Where was that reported? Anyone with a link to that information?

9) One more...it was reported on another thread. The poster said on the tape, the cops stated that her mother had told them to cuff her. It was also stated the mother thought the cops should not have been called. That seems contradictory. I didn't hear that statement. Anyone else hear cuffing was at the mothers request?

10) My personal opinion is the school has a hidden (as much as you can hide on film) agenda. Don't tell me that they couldn't figure out a way to deal with that short of evacuating a class room and calling the cops. The staff following her around saying don't do that, blah, blah was lame as hell. They never tried to interact with her. They made (IMHO) no real attempt to stop her. If that's the best they can do they shouldn't even be around children. I have an Australian Cattle Dog that could have herded that girl into the principle office and prevented any further destruction without touching her. Think how much better a person could do at accomplishing such.

11) I find the entire incident and reporting of very very disturbing. I think something is unfolding there. I don't know what but I don't think it's good.


and because I think it's always nice to know on such topics...No I do not have children. But I have a couple of outlandishly spoiled rotten brat dogs.

[expatriate]

1. On one version of the video online at the St. Pete newspaper

the police officer is heard saying "Jaisha, do you remember me? I'm the one your mother told to put the handcuffs on you." There are articles which have mentioned that the mother herself has called out police to her home to deal with the child when the child was three years old. (This is not uncommon - there are people who think this will teach a child a "lesson". What boggles my mind is that cops do it when there must be more serious matters they could attend to.)

One of the teachers is heard on the videotape saying "her mother says we can't touch her" - however, the assistant principal touches the kid a LOT. I am assuming that they mean that they can't put her in the proscribed hold (basically, a full nelson) for restraining out of control children. Several times people are heard saying, when the kid throws these barrages of punches (without striking the assistant principal) and the assistant principal only reprimands her verbally, "she's not touching her, that's good". They seem to be referring to the assistant principal not touching the child, but could be referring to the child not actually striking the assistant principal.

The entire thing strikes me as being odd. The child doesn't seem particularly out of control to me, from what is on the videotape. The assistant principal is just purely reactive, and sounds completely insincere. She talks in a high, whiney voice, and projects no authority at all. I also find it very strange that people stood around, filming the incident. In the classroom footage, the women involved change the angle of the camera twice as the kid moves around the room. Someone is obviously holding the video camera and filming the situation in the office.

Perhaps they want to prove that no-one paddled or abused the child, but the assistant principal DID touch her many times, and even attempts to restrain her once.

The entire thing is very strange.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I've worked with special needs children

including those with bi-polar disorder and other emotional/mental problems. They can be a real handful and caregivers are always aware of the fact that they can be sued if they don't handle a situation according to protocol. I'm sure that's one reason why the video camera followed the child. (And even back in the 1980s, video cameras were used in classrooms to evaluate teacher performance.) If this child had a history of emotional outbursts resulting in injury or destruction of property, I think it was wise to evacuate the classroom, especially if the parent refused to allow the staff to use physical restraint on the child, which may have been the only way to have removed the child instead of the rest of the class.

Like you, I wish I could have seen what caused the outburst (if indeed there was an obvious cause). I wonder if the child has a history of them. If so, at the very least the child needs counseling. But with cash-strapped schools forced to spend their days teaching tests instead of educating, this is probably impossible.

I just hope the kid gets help and soon. In my years working with special needs kids there was NEVER a time any of them were handcuffed. That was way out of line.

[expatriate]

3. Apparently the girl started to misbehave during a math

exercise, where each child had been given several jellybeans to count. An article on the BBC stated that the girl had begun to "act silly" during the exercise, and the teacher took the jellybeans away from her as punishment. At that point, the girl began to walk around the room and pick up things and drop them on the floor.

In the beginning of the video in the classroom (a lot of articles and board posts don't mention that there are two locations where this child was misbehaving, a classroom and later an assistant principal's office), a couple of children can be seen leaving the room. One makes a remark to the effect that this girl is misbehaving again.

Some articles quote the police officer as saying "Ja'eisha, do you remember me? I'm the one who told your mother I would put the handcuffs on you if you did this again." I'm no so sure that's what the officer says. It sounded to me as if he said her mother had asked him to put the handcuffs on her in the past. The audio isn't that good in the videos I've seen.