Five year old handcuffed.

You are right. In this particular case, it's being used as an excuse.

The type of behavior described in no way indicates ADD as a cause.

 

For a teacher or principle today, that means being sued or arrested.

 

Now that I agree with, but it must be done by parents, not school teachers and principles.

 

Perfect example of the attitude that requires a 5 year old to be cuffed.

Call Mommy or Daddy and tell them the kid is throwing things and won't stop. Mommy and Daddy never show up. Even if they do, what's a teacher or principle to do in the meantime? Call the cops and have them cuff 'em?

The kid knows he won't be disciplined at home either. Result is he keeps disrupting class without any consequences at all. Or they cuff him.

It would work much better if the teacher administered corrective action at the time and place of the misbehavior. It used to work. It still would. But they can't.

Ridiculous.

 

Then keep the kid at home. It's unreasonable to put a child under the tutelage of an institution and then deny that institution the right to punish bad behavior.

 

Not necessarily so ... our school district and most others in this area still use corporal punishment. The parents have to sign a consent form at the beginning of the year, and you have the option to request notification prior to the use of corporal punishment. My 12 year old has already received swats once for getting a demerit, and he is about to get swats this coming week for a demerit he got last week (the principal only gives swats one day a week). Our personal policy is that if our child gets swats at school, they get double at home...yes, we do believe in double jeopardy around here. :laugh: You know it's the darndest thing...I've yet to hear about a kid bringing a weapon to school around here....

 

I can only imagine a situation where the school felt police needed to be called for a 5 year old. Then to have the police choose to physically restrain the child lets me know there was more to this story than sit in the office until your parents get here. Then for law enforcement, people who deal with the worst of society all day to even consider hauling the child off to a psych ward says to me your sarcasm may be more fact than fiction. If nothing else, maybe they thought the child was a threat to himself and could use the safety of a "rubber room".

I know it's easy for us with hind site to know exactly what to do in a situation like this but I think we have to hope the adults involved did what they thought was best. We may not all agree, but we should at minimum give them that much credit. Seeing that we were not there releally removes our license to judge the situation and say whether their actions were warranted or not.

Sorry, but my wife works in child care and I know for fact there are kids that are dangerous especially if they miss their medications.

 

Many schools work that way. Just as many, maybe more, don't.

Congratulations! You are obviously a caring parent.:thumbs:

 

And therein lies the problem...if a child knows they can get swats for their misbehavior, they will think twice before acting up. I know when I was a kid, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing something to get swats at school...my dad had the same rule we do, only he beat us rather than just spanking. Our school did not have a whole lot of problems, though, because paddling was an option for teachers AND the principal. I do love my kids, which is exactly why I discipline them. It will not be one of my children that shows up at school with a weapon because somebody hurt his/her feelings. Parents can't have it both ways. If you want to tie the school's hands behind their backs, you can't expect kids to have respect and behave.

 

The child is not harmed by being retrained by cuffs or any other measure. Such concern is an over reaction.

 

Restraint is one thing. Transporting to a mental institution is another.
Restraint is a form of discipline or control and has its place.

Maybe you trust the medical establishment entirely: I don't. I've heard (and use to have the information which documented) of medical schools sponsoring symposiums in which speakers and representatives of the medical community actually advocated euthanasia. I've read and heard too much about how chemicals, drugs, and vaccines get through the FDA: the political/business connections involved in some cases; the lobbying efforts and pressure by congressional members in others: the dependance on research reports on efficacy and safety which are designed and funded by the companies whose product is moving for approval. I take seriously the Bible's exhortation to avoid sorceries and the association of sorcery with drugs. I believe some drugs have their place, but society as a whole is encouraged to rush to a doctor and EXPECT a pill to cure all: Whatever happened to our first cry in need being to God first, even before medical assistance?

And I don't believe any child under the age of puberty should be placed on psychotropic drugs..... with the exception of those who are eleptic. I don't agree that a mental institution is the place for a child to be placed merely on the occassion of bad behavior: I used to think a visit to a conselor, psychologist or psychiatrist, was an innocent an innocus answer for help with a problem or disorder: but, I'm more aware now, than ever before, of the paper trail and tracking and questions in the record that such can lead to: For one thing, people have to be paid for services: Even if given free, service providers have to document the time and purpose for which they gave their time for credit or compensation by insurance, governmental or charity agencies. This requires diagnosing:

Children are not all created equal in their speed of development. Some are advanced. Others have delays. They all pass through developmental processes associated with self awareness, socialization, formation of personality, internalizing self-checks on behavior, etc.. Premature diagnosing sets the child up for prejudgement and actions towards him based upon the expectation of abnormal response. Ideally, what you want to develope in a child is the awareness of what is acceptable behavior and what is not, and you want him to be treated as normal at all times (except with the rarest and extreme of occasions when it is not possible) so as to develop in him full functioning in a normal world....not a hospital or institution.

Like an agitated elderly confused patient in a nursing home: A child has a limited vocabulary to express his problems. He has prior experiences which might have been misunderstood..... like the last time he kept interrupting the teacher when he really wanted to go to the bathroom..... and wet his pants.... or almost.... but was scolded for interruption, "Mrs. So-so!" "But Mrs. So-so!" .....follows 'Shut up kid' (well, hopefully not exactly that.... but is it what the teacher says or what the child understands the teacher to say or mean that is important at this age..... I considered the latter most important)...... "You must raise your hand" Johnny raises his hand. " Put your hands down now. I want no questions. You have your coloring papers before you. Sit quietly, while I step out in the hall a moment." Johnny squirms; he's uncomfortable; he can't concentrate:

Silly? Maybe. But in my clinical work I found, giving a person the time and opportunity to express themself, or if they were unable, by thoughtful inquiry with simple questions as to their comfort (do you need to go to the bathroom? are you hungry? are you too cold/warm? do you wish to be alone for a while? would you rather I not talk? do you have something to tell me.....maybe you don't know how? are you hurting somewhere? is something troubling you? are you afraid? has someone threaten/hurt you?) often increased their trust of my care, increased our rapport, and decreased the incidents or the severity of threats when I was present in a code.

In this story, you have no less than 3 governmental institutions involved in the authority over the child and the parents: Educational Institution..... who hasn't a clue how to manage their authority. Law enforcement...... which is accustomed to handling criminal complaints and behavior. And Social services and mental health.

Cuffing hands or restraints, okay, if policy in place to govern when and how they are used, and under what circumstances.... and what solutions are available and should be tried before going that far. And if no policy..... then it is time to initiate the writing of such in the schools manual, or directed by the board of education.

The story lacks invovement by the parents. Whether this is journalistic ommision to play upon our emotional knee jerk reaction and create judgements in the readers' minds or not.... I have no idea. But I still say the parents should be involved in the discipline of an out of control unruly child: If they refuse to participate in agreements regarding acceptance of more severe measures beyond the norm of classroom discipline.... then the school should inform them of what measures it considers appropriate and that continued attendance is conditioned upon their acceptance or they must remove their child immediately. If the school has appropriate policies in place, and if it has taken care to document the childs behavior and the forms of discipline tried, and if it has been responsible in its informing the parents, through calls, meetings, letters, then the school should be protected by its policy which was available or shared with the parents earlier, when the child is expelled.

 

3-page warning: This thread will be closed no sooner than 2:00 a.m. ET by one of the moderators.

LE

 

Forgive me for questioning the rules:
But why?

This news, while it may get old, is symptomatic of the problems with judgement society is facing today, and -though it is likely exhausted for now- doesnot mean members are not digesting the content and ruminating over the problem as they see it...... and as they may experience it within the context of their own lives or service.:saint:

 

It works pretty well most of the time. Keeps the page fresh.

If you believe this topic is hot and deserves more discussion, you can request the moderator move it to another forum with a 10 page rule. :thumbs:

 

:laugh: Is it closed yet!:wavey:

12:51 CST and counting........:sleeping_2:

 

It is now.

Seriously, if you want to start a new thread, please do. The News forum has had a longstanding 3-page rule.

Thanks,
LE