Six year old handcuffed for throwing a tantrum

Six year old kindergarten student from Georgia taken by police from school and handcuffed after a tantrum.

Quote :

Officials at Creekside Elementary School in Milledgeville, located in central Georgia, called police on Friday to report that pupil Salecia Johnson was out of control. They said they had first tried to call her mother, but couldn't reach her.

School officials told WMAZ that they feared the child was a danger to herself and others. She was crying, tearing items off the wall, biting a door knob, trying to break a glass frame and jumping on top of a paper shredder. At one point, she reportedly knocked over a shelf, injuring the school principal, according to the Associated Press.

When I think of a tantrum, I think of a small child or immature adult screaming and crying hysterically. What I don't imagine is a child knocking over a shelf and injuring a principal. Biting a door knob? Seriously?

I read a couple of different sources for this story, and apparently the school wasted time calling numbers that were either incorrect or disconnected. The mother and father acknowledge that she has these 'mood swings', so you would think that they would make sure that they could be contacted should it occur while she is at school.

While the fact that the parents are so nonchalant about their child having these violent outbursts, that isn't the reason I brought this story to the site.

Quote :

"A 6-year-old in kindergarten. They don't have no business calling the police and handcuffing my child," Earnest Johnson, the girl's father, told WMAZ. The child's mother said the girl suffers "mood swings" but that was still no reason for authorities to treat her so harshly.

Well, you, sir, should be handcuffed and taken to the Grammar Police station for that use of a double negative. They put the child in handcuffs to keep someone else from getting hurt. That was the right thing for them to do.

According to another source, I found and read several on this story, the parents aren't going to just going to make a small fuss.

Quote :

However, Johnson's parents are trying to organize a community protest against the officer's actions, including reported plans to contact civil rights activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton.

Really? Getting Al Sharpton involved? I am of the opinion that the police did exactly what they needed to do and that, while the child clearly needs to see a psychiatrist, she is also learning nothing from home about taking responsibility for actions if her parents' responses are anything to go by. The mother even stated, according to the NY Daily News I believe, that she didn't believe her daughter behaved badly enough for the police to be involved.

So, WGWers, what are your opinions on this matter? Do you think the parents will be successful with their protest? What about their plans to get Al Sharpton involved?

I think the kid needs a full medical exam because it sounds like she has some kind of chemical imbalance.

A six-year-old knocking over a shelf?

Bruce Banner, you're a terrible parent.

Actually, if the kid had to be handcuffed, this would be a justifiable reason. If she could knock a shelf over, I imagine should tear off your kneecaps.

I forgot to mention, one of the articles stated that she actually resisted the officers when one of them tried to calm her down. It was after she resisted that they placed her in cuffs and took her to the station, not a cell or anything though, to wait for her parents to finally show up.

This sounds incredibly familiar...

BRB - Archives.

[EDIT]Thought so. Pepper spray instead of handcuffs, but still a child throwing a massive tantrum requiring police intervention, initial condemnation and a surprising justification of seemingly brutal police action.

Quote :

If she could knock a shelf over, I imagine should tear off your kneecaps.

Are you being sarcastic?

Shelves aren't that hard to knock over man...

WD40 wrote:

This sounds incredibly familiar...

BRB - Archives.

Thought so. Pepper spray instead of handcuffs, but still a child throwing a massive tantrum requiring police intervention, initial condemnation and a surprising justification of seemingly brutal police action.

Wait, you think that the police were being brutal by placing her in handcuffs? Would you mind explaining how you arrived at this conclusion? Using pepper spray is indeed excessive, especially on a child, but handcuffs?

knightwithoutacause wrote:

WD40 wrote:

This sounds incredibly familiar...

BRB - Archives.

Thought so. Pepper spray instead of handcuffs, but still a child throwing a massive tantrum requiring police intervention, initial condemnation and a surprising justification of seemingly brutal police action.

Wait, you think that the police were being brutal by placing her in handcuffs? Would you mind explaining how you arrived at this conclusion? Using pepper spray is indeed excessive, especially on a child, but handcuffs?

I said "seemingly" brutal, but I appreciate how my wording is a bit strong. However, I'd still would argue that Joe Bloggs off the street, given no additional info or context, would think that placing handcuffs on a 6-year-old is at least extreme, and possibly brutal.

I'm not condemning the actions of the police, by the sounds of things they acted professionally, and I get the impression that if there'd been an alternative, they'd have taken it, but at face value: "6-year old put in handcuffs" sounds brutal to me.

Indeed, I must concur that it does seem rather extreme without the knowledge of what occured. Thank you kindly for explaining what you meant so nicely, and I apologize for not quoting you correctly.

I don't know much about how civil actions work other than what I've had to do with disability, so can you or someone else tell me what actions the family could take against the police since they seem to be planning to do so? What help do they expect Al Sharpton to be?

Quote :

"A 6-year-old in kindergarten. They don't have no business calling the police and handcuffing my child," Earnest Johnson, the girl's father, told WMAZ

I'm with Chucklefuck on this one. I don't know why grown ass adults need to call in armed grown ass adults with better shit to do to deal with a goddamn six year old. If she's being THAT destructive, grab her by the throat and pin her to the wall until she calms down.

But we can't do that in today's America, can we? Partly because there's a solid chance every employee in the area is too out of shape to boss around a six year old, possibly because the limp wristed hippy types that become teachers don't have the balls to do anything to injure a child's "self esteem," and if not all that, then definitely because the parents would sue the school, costing the school a boatload of money, even though they would clearly have been in the right.

tl;dr Fuck fat people, weak people, stupid people, teachers (but I repeat myself ), and lawyers.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

Partly because there's a solid chance every employee in the area is too out of shape to boss around a six year old, possibly because the limp wristed hippy types that become teachers don't have the balls to do anything to injure a child's "self esteem,"

No, it's more that teachers typically aren't allowed to do anything. No matter how much the child is acting up, the teachers don't dare to lay a finger on her, because they could get arrested, would probably lose their license to teach, and almost certainly would be fired or suspended.

Mikey wrote:

...then definitely because the parents would sue the school, costing the school a boatload of money, even though they would clearly have been in the right.

And then there's that. It's clear the parents are going to be looking to sue the school anyway for calling the cops. Do you think they'd be any less litigious if they'd found out a teacher grabbed their kid? So they called in people who still have the authority to physically restrain a child.


I'm just glad that this isn't one of those stories where the parents' side is the only one getting reported. There's still plenty of knee-jerk "There's no excuse for handcuffing a child!" response, but also a lot more sensible reaction than many of these get.

Between this and the kid who managed to chase his entire class into another room I'm starting to think teachers need blow guns with sleeping darts in them or something.

Or maybe we could go back to the days of the cane and the paddle.

Yeah, the job of a teacher is to teach, not to subdue people (even children) acting violently. In theory a police officer should be trained to do just that in a manner that is safest for everyone involved. Calling the police after failing to get a hold of the parents was the best way to go, I think.

Reepy wrote:

Calling the police after failing to get a hold of the parents was the best way to go, I think.

You're a fucking idiot. We aren't taking tax money to pay police officers to be goddamn parents. They, hopefully, have better shit to do. If this is such a problem, have one or two individuals on the grounds who are trained, equipped, and authorized to subdue kids who flip out on this level.

ETA: And charge the parents of kids that require sub subduing a ludicrous amount of money. That ought to put a quick end to it.

haha, "having cops do it it so expensive! Let's just have two or three trained specialized paid individuals at each school do it that'll save he taxpayers"

^
That's why we charge parents an obscene fee every time it has to happen. Well, that and incentivizing that they raise their kids remotely well.

Though you don't necessarily need another employee, you could train the Principal or something.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

^
That's why we charge parents an obscene fee every time it has to happen. Well, that and incentivizing that they raise their kids remotely well.

Though you don't necessarily need another employee, you could train the Principal or something.

The sarcasm... you missed it.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

You're a fucking idiot.

Says the guy who cheers for a suspected rapist during the NFL season.

P.S. You still owe me an apology.

Chris91 wrote:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

You're a fucking idiot.

Says the guy who cheers for a suspected rapist during the NFL season.

P.S. You still owe me an apology.

Says the guy who cheers for a known cheater during the NFL season.

P.S. Tough titty.

Please, stop. We don't need another wankfest centered around you.

Mikey Go WOOGA fired the first shot in this war, not me.

And I've fired my last shot. From now on, I'll just sit back and enjoy the show.

KJM wrote:

And I've fired my last shot.

Somehow I doubt it.