Kids in handcuffs.
Specifically, the son of Mercy Alvarez, who was led away from school in handcuffs just this past week, after being caught playing with his food in the cafeteria*. It's getting a lot of press, and, despite not personally having any children in school to be handcuffed, it did make me wonder what I really thought about the whole thing.
Did it matter that the boy in question was 7 years old in first grade? After all, a 7 year old playing with his food sounds like a 7 year old being a 7 year old, no?
Did it matter that the "playing with his food" wasn't actually the offense that got him into handcuff territory? And that the reason for the asterisk above is because (*) after being told to stop doing whatever he was doing with his food, he started to attack his teacher ... and then he didn't stop attacking her even after he was restrained. (The teacher says she's pressing charges ...) So now *some* kind of higher level of response sounds more warranted.
Did it matter that this was the second "tantrum" the kid had in school in three months? Which only makes me feel like I can't really make an armchair quarterback child-discipline call without knowing what happened the last time there was such an outburst.
Did it matter that the school took things a step further and used the Baker Act (the law for how to forcibly put people into psychiatric care without involving family members) in order to send the child for a psychiatric evaluation after the incident? That seems a bit more drastic.
Did it matter that one of the theories is that the boy is "acting out" due to excessive bullying? 'Cause, let's face it -- kids can be downright cruel. And it's not always as obvious as a seven year old putting a beatdown on the teacher.
In the end, the one thing I know for sure is that there is little that I know for sure. Does "kids being put in handcuffs" sound like something extreme? Yes. Might there be extreme circumstances calling for some kind of escalated response? Yes. What was the right thing to do for this wrong situation? I just don't know. All I *can* say is ... here's hoping all parties take the appropriate action to recover from this situation and that *everyone* gets the unfettered assistance that they need.
THE STORY OF THE BOY IN HANDCUFFS:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article197039799.html
IN KENTUCKY, THIS KIND OF THING ISN'T ALLOWED:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/handcuffs-little-kids-unconstitutional_us_59e127fce4b0a52aca1809ad
ON BAKER ACT-ING CHILDREN:
https://flaglerlive.com/64617/baker-act-children/
