Should a 5 year old be handcuffed??

[Ranger Mom]

What do YOU think??

CBS/AP) An attorney says he plans legal action against St. Petersburg (Fla.) police officers who handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old girl after she acted up in her kindergarten class.

A video camera, which was rolling March 14 as part of a teacher's classroom self-improvement exercise, captured images of the girl tearing papers off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and punching an assistant principal before police were called to Fairmount Park Elementary School.

Then it shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers approach, pin her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screamed, "No!"

Largo, Fla., lawyer John Trevena, who provided the tape to the media after obtaining it from police, says the officers went too far.

"The image itself will be seared into people's minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her," said Trevena, who represents the girl's mother, Inga Akins. "It's incomprehensible. ...There was no need for that."

"Certainly, she shouldn't have been arrested," Trevena told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Monday. "There is certainly a better way of dealing with this situation. …The educators have available to them a number of resources: special counseling, alternative classes, special education. This girl should have been evaluated. She was identified as having problems. This child shouldn't be in the regular class if there was a problem."

Police declined to comment, citing an official complaint by Akins that has sparked an investigation by the supervisor of the four officers who were present. Two are new officers who were being trained that day.

Spokesman Bill Proffitt said the investigation would be complete in about two weeks and the findings would be made public.

The 30-minute tape shows assistant principal Nicole Dibenedetto trying repeatedly to calm down the girl, who ignores her commands and begins punching her. The child's mother was called, but wasn't able to immediately come to the school.

After placing the child in the back of a police cruiser, police released her to her mother when prosecutors informed them they wouldn't bring charges against a 5-year-old.

"You have to look at the whole history in this case," Trevena told Smith. "Apparently, there had been a previous conflict between the mother, the assistant principal, who you see in the video, and the child. And the mother's convinced that it was really just a personality conflict between the child and the assistant principal."

Why do the mother and Trevena plan to sue?

"Unfortunately, with our system of civil justice, the way that we handle these matters, is you have to sue someone in order to get reform. …To get the reform, you have to make them pay, because if you don't make them pay, they're never going to reform themselves. If they don't have to pony up, there never will be any change.

"The amount is unspecified at this point. We really are going to have to have the girl thoroughly evaluated by professionals to see what long-term damage is going to come of this. Clearly she was traumatized. …She's doing well in her new class. But we're concerned about the long-term effects of this."

Interview requests by The Early Show were denied by both St. Petersburg police and school officials.

[District303aPastPlayer]

she assulted the assistant principal... put her hands on a school official... she should be handcuffed... change of heart..

[HighSchool Fan]

it's hard to say RM. Logic tells us no. however, if someone put their hands on this child to control her, the mother would probably sue that person. if the school calls you and tells you that your kid is acting up, wouldn't you drop what your doing and go get your child. as much as i'm probably gonna be disagreed with, i think the right thing was done.

[lepfan]

I have an opinion on this....but I am not going to touch the issue! My words might not be taken in the way they were intended.

You need to be on the inside looking out before any judgment is made. (just a general statement not intended for anyone in particular)


Sometimes a "take down" or whatever you want to call it...is made for the safety of the student also.

[rockdale80]

Originally posted by HighSchool Fan
it's hard to say RM. Logic tells us no. however, if someone put their hands on this child to control her, the mother would probably sue that person. if the school calls you and tells you that your kid is acting up, wouldn't you drop what your doing and go get your child. as much as i'm probably gonna be disagreed with, i think the right thing was done.

especially with the amount of legal suits that are taking place these days. if the principle would have given her a few swats she would be punished or fired. of if she had tried to restrain the girl herself. a teachers and principles hands are tied when it comes to something like that. then the mom has the audacity to sue the city when the problem is obviously at home.

[pirate44]

if she was going "crazy" and could be harmful to HERSELF or others, i say cuff her. Like HSF said, if someone tried to restrain her, the child could have been hurt. while theyre at it, they need to cuff the mother, unfortunately, being an un-diciplining and stupid parent isnt against the law

[lepfan]

Not to mention any "touches" they could accuse the officers of.....

[Bandera YaYa]

As shocking as it looked..... to see a 5 yr old being cuffed, it was necessary for her safety. I seriously doubt she could have harmed anyone, but she was clearly out of control and the police followed procedures. I saw school personnel trying to get her to calm down without hurting her. If the little girl needs help, I certainly hope she gets it.....must be more than meets the eye here, as for as the mom is concerned.

[kaorder1999]

throw the book at her

[KTJ]

I saw the videotape.

If I was the parent, I would have been okay with them cuffing her. Because she would have gotten a lot worse punishment once she got home.

The moral of this post--KTJ's kids WILL NOT act like a fool in public.

[kaorder1999]

if she feels adult enough to hit people shes adult enough to be put in cuffs. Maybe she learned a lesson with this

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by KTJ
The moral of this post--KTJ's kids WILL NOT act like a fool in public.

LOL. You might want to edit this later in life. You can't always control the way your kids act. What you can control is your response to their behavior.

Now if you had said "KTJ's kids WILL NOT act like a fool and public and go unpunished", that would be another story.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
You can't always control the way your kids act. What you can control is your response to their behavior.

Amen Brother!!

[SPF25]

I agree the cops did the right thing. She was clearly being violent and unruly. They didnt have anymore options. Though it sounds extreme to me it was justified.

[CHS_CG]

I totally agree with what the cops did.. I was watchin CNN this morning and they had the childs lawyer on there and he was talkin about how they are goin to sue the police bc of wrongful arrest.. I guess I could be wrong but when you get arrested arent you TAKEN to jail and booked? The lil girl was just cuffed and sat in the back of the car till her mother could show up. They said that her mother is a nurse and had people to take care of that she couldnt drop her work right then. They also said that the mother, child and assisant principle have a "history" and do not get along.. so the lawyer was sayin "why send the assisant principle in when they dont get along." UMM HELLO It doesnt matter if they get along or not shes the assisant principle deal with it! I know in most schools the assisant principle deals with discipline. If the child cant behave in school.. and she cant be punished then the mother needs to do some serious thinking. If her daughter is already (as KTJ says) acting a fool at 5, Lord knows what she will get into in her teens.