Absinthe & Cookies (a bit bitter, a bit sweet)

I watched the two parts of this and thought the whole situation was bizarre. The girl was being bratty, but she was 5. The teacher and assistant principal or whoever she was just made me sick because they kept her fired up and sounded like morons.

It looks like CYA and/or school policies gone insane. Possibly also like a specific history with that girl and her family coming into it.

To me it made the adults at the school look so bad they ought to have been trying to avoid getting it on tape, not going out of their way to get it on tape.

Actually, according to the article it was 4 police officers, two of them were in training which means that they were probably riding with their training officers. Two officers being sent to the scene of a dispute at a school is not overblown for two reasons. You see on the tape how the teacher is very careful to make limited physical contact with the child. I'm sorry, I don't think it was because of teaching methods, I think it was because they don't want to be sued. Having two officers at the scene is a safeguard when dealing with a situation that might go south. Do I think she should have been cuffed? In this day and age, unfortunately, yes. Why? Because teachers and too often parents aren't being given the same freedom to discipline their own children as they should be. As Baldilocks points out, behavior like that, you wouldn't be able to sit for a week. Now if a teacher looks at someone the wrong way they are being sued. There's an apparent back story between the mother and the VP, I wonder if that child was told at home that she doesn't have to listen to her teacher or the VP, thereby undermining the needed discipline in school? I think there's a lot more to this, butto answer your question, no, I don't think that having more than one officer show up was overdoing it and I think it needs to be pointed out that it was really 2 officers, not 3 or 4.

My point is that 2 or 3 or 4 police officers is WAY too much response for a 5 year old. If you're not going to just ignore the tantrum because it's a cry for attention, to stop a 5 year old from having a tantrum like that you pick her up and hold her so she can't flail until she calms down. Then you punish her for whatever. When a small one throws a tantrum it's because they are upset and confused. The tantrum is their expression of frustration. After a while it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and the kid keeps wailing and flailing just to keep doing it. Hugging a kid tightly can't be construed as child abuse.... You don't need to call the cops. Who sure as hell don't need to handcuff her. When the adults escalate the response it's an invitation for the kid to escalate the tantrum.

Furthermore, if they won't send cops to break up a fight between 16 year olds, who are essentially adults, why call the cops on a 5 year old? What's she gonna do? Bite you?

I agree that there seems to be a deeper family history that we're not getting from the media. I'm disinclined to accuse the teachers of wrong-doing, here, because I believe they were following school protocol. If they had laid hands on the child to sit her down or put her in "time out" or even dare to give her a much-needed spanking, the family's lawyer would've been all over them for that, instead. Maybe the little girl is abused at home. Maybe they've been through rounds of counseling with the child, or have sent multiple requests for the parents to discipline their little girl. I think two cops may've been too many, but one particular officer seemed to be following up on a promise to the child's mother to handcuff the child. Maybe it was a scare tactic from a desperate mom. Dunno. All around, I feel that the ones who are behaving most shamefully in this situation are the family.

I agree with you, CTG, about the number of cops at the scene. Too many officers were there, and they should've sent someone your husband's way, for sure. :) My question, however, is not "Why were there so many cops there?" but "Where is this little girl's mother?"

agreed. Why weren't the parents called? I can see bringing in one policeman to scare the kid, especially if they've done it before and if it's school policy.... but what made this little girl flip out so hard? what happened at home first?

The mother was called. At least twice. I watched both parts of the video, about 12 minutes total, and one of the first things was having the mother called. Apparently the whole thing went on at some length without the mother ever arriving before it escalated to the cops.

While I do not think it should be a first response to handcuff a 5 year old, I think the Police acted appropriately and professionally. They remained calm. In watching the full tape, the audio comments that they called the mother at least 45 minutes before. Also, the teacher filming makes a lot of comments about - good she [VP] is not touching her - as the VP is pummeled with punches by the girl - and having been hit by many a five year olds - they hurt - however, since the teacher cannot touch or restrain the child - in a tight hug as one commentator states- since yes - she would be sued, - she called police who can.

While it is a sad state of affairs, unfortunately, it is the state we have allowed our schools and society to come to. Respect, disciple and civility, are not allowed. Anything that can be construed to imposing morals on someone and thus infringing their rights is out. So we teach to the lowest denominator, allow individual children to ruin the education and safety of all other, so as not to be sued.

The most intriguing thing in the video is the way the little girl sat down the minute the police came. It seems she has been through this before. I too, feel there is much background we are not getting, and given the age of the child, I doubt that the schools or police will be allowed to release it.

Couple of comments this news story has made it around the world as it's been seen by me in the UK, so you can guarantee the rst of europe has picked it up to, especially the French and Germans.

As for the comment made above about the girl siitng down and being quiet when the cops came in through the door, well to most of you white folks that's a situation that most black people will do if three white cops come into your room.

But I find amazing about people talking about the background , there's stuff we don't know etc.

To those of you who think it was reasonable to handcuff the girl, then go get yourself some habdcuffs (take the fur off them first) and then go handcuff your kids for about a hour or two.

Whats happening in florida anyway? why would they handcuff a kid for this? its rediclous and its a bit like in the schools where they arrest kids for drawing pictures of guns and knives have the inmates taken over the insaine assilum?

Ah, beloved, demented Florida. And some people actually wonder why I left?

I moved to Florida almost two years ago from Colorado. Since I have lived here, I have seen more stories about the bass-ackwards school systems and abusive teachers than I ever did in Colorado. I have also seen much more coverage on kidnappings and pedophile activity. Frankly, the longer I am in this state, the more I want out. I have seen enough weirdness.

I think that the school acted appropriately. Apparently the school had previous encounters with this child and was instructed by the mother not to touch the child. How about placing the blame where it belongs--on the parent for not responding to the school to come and pick up her child and for not teaching her child some restaint!!

After working in the public school system (with "behavior problems") over a 2 year period, I commend the teacher and VP! I have been bitten, kicked, scratched (had to undergo hepatitis vaccines due to one bite that ripped the skin off my hand), by children who "didn't know any better".

I have watched the videos and have read criticism about them "following" her, but what if she had fallen off the table or picked up a pair of scissors and injured herself?

One more opportunity for a lawsuit!

An out of control child is just that - out of control.

Given the state of our educational system and the fear of being sued for even admonishing a child, you bet - the educators acted appropriately!

If the school had allowed it to continue, what message would that send the rest of the students who were affected by her uncontrolled outburst?

Personally, if the parents are allowed to sue the schools for ANYTHING THEY VIEW as untoward (which to say the least is relative) the school and the teachers have a right to protect themselves.

Call the police - you betcha!

I'll just bet it will be quite a while before anyone else in the class decides to throw a rip snorting tantrum in that school!

I'm kinda behind the times on this one, but I just posted a piece on my little ol' livejournal (http://www.livejournal.com/users/lornkanaga/34318.html) titled "Police Brutality?".
I don't lambast the school because their hands are tied.
I'd like to see the kid forced to stay home until she knows how to behave, but unless the kid is homeschooled during that time denying her an education is against the law.
Yes to the handcuffs--the child had to be restrained and handcuffs were the only choice at that point, mostly because only a doctor can prescribe heavy drugs.
I also would like to see HS students arrested and charged with assault whenever it's warranted.

I don't believe that the teachers just happened to have the videotape rolling that day. I think they wanted to document the child's behavior and did provoke her. Take her jelly beans away? Come on? Her reaction was predictable.

The child clearly is a handful. It's the end of the school year. Probably the school wants to divert her to a behaviorial program of sorts, which may be appropriate. But what dishonesty to do so in this way.

There are hundreds of thousands of teachers and day-care owners who do deal with behavior like this far more skillfully every workday. I admire their poise and emotional maturity. After seeing the film and reading reactions to it, I'm going to drop a couple of them a note to tell them I admire them even more.

By the way, I thought the police tried to be gentle with her, but they should never have been called on to deal with the situation.

Do I think the child had behaved badly before? I sure do. But, gosh, it's kindergarten and she's a little girl. I hope for the best for her.

And people wonder why things cost so much and why class sizes and education in general is going downhill.

The parents of this child should be charged for the entire cost of the incident (The school officials who had to use their time to monitor the child and clean up the mess made by the child and the police officers who had to respond to this nonsense. Bad parenting at it peak.

The child's parents should also be sued by every parent whose child also goes to that school for taking away from their learning experience.

WHEN WILL THE PARENT ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SENDING TO SCHOOL, AN UNSOCIALIZED CHILD WHO HAS APPARANTLY BEEN TAUGHT TO HAVE NO RESPECT FOR HER TEACHERS. THE OTHER CHILDREN DESERVE TO BE PROTECTED FROM FROM THE UNSETTLED/DISTURBED CHILD. THEN THE CHILD AND HER MOTHER SHOULD BE GIVEN HELP WITH THE PROBLEMS DEMONSTRATED.

After reading the comments posted on this page I felt compelled to write. It seems that people are quick to admonish the teacher, administrators, and the police, but nothing has been said about the parent of this child. She has been called before, this obviously has been a pattern of bad behavior on the part of her child, and yet this parent was quick to, on that particular day say that she could not come to the school until 3:15 (which for those of you who don't know is the time of dismissal).

I have been teaching in Florida for 9 years, and I have witnessed, in my 7 years working in intercity schools, behavior much worse than this child displayed. While I loved working with the children I did, I have been assaulted on numerous occassions - kicks, bites, punching, pinching, slapping...not to mention the chairs being thrown, desks being toppled, and massive amounts of property being destroyed - including the air being let out of my tires by a fifth grader who I wrote a referal on, and my room being broken into and vandalized (and no, my personal belongings that helped make the classroom an inviting place weren't reimbursed). What are the teacher's options? What about the rights of the other children whose education is being disrupted continuously? It is time to hold parents accountable for the behavior of their children. I might have more sympathy if this parent was showing that she was doing all she could to assist in a series of difficult situations, but this parent clearly was using school as a daycare dumping ground. As teachers our hands are tied - the police are often our only option because some parents dismiss extremely bad behavior as something generally acceptable.

I'm sorry, but other parents should be outraged that one child is threatening the wellbeing and education of their own children. It is evident that public servants such as teachers, administrators, and law enforcement are not listened to, supported, or valued. It is time for these other parents to step up and demand change!

Coincidentally, is it a surprise that more than 75% of teachers drop out of teaching by their 5th year? It doesn't help that along with this lack of support a teacher of 9 years is paid LESS than an assistant manager of Starbucks with no college degree. Take a look at the salaries of the police officers who put their life on the line every day. It's sad, but situations like this are what is driving highly qualified people out of these noble professions.