Special Ed Student Handcuffed to School Door (for 4 Hours)

Special Ed Student Handcuffed to School Door (for 4 Hours)

www.wxyz.com

School board member Marie Thornton says the claim has been forwarded to emergency financial manager Robert Bobb.

Thornton says staff at Sampson-Webber Elementary told her the principal ordered a Detroit Public Schools police officer to handcuff the boy to a door in her office.

The boy remained handcuffed from 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. when he was allowed to go home.

Thornton says she was told about the incident Tuesday night

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[edit on 6/10/2009 by Keyhole]

A PRINCIPAL ordered an 11 year old student to be handcuffed to a door for $ hours?

And a special education student!

What was this pricipal thinking? I'm ready to get fired!!

Obviously this is not the way to reprimand an 11 year old special education student!

And what was this cop thinking? (Or was he?)

Does the officer in a school HAVE to take orders from the principal of the school he is assigned to?

At the very LEAST, the cop should've known better than this!

www.wxyz.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 6/10/2009 by Keyhole]

If you will remember our educational system is full of mindless zombies.

What's the difference between this and allowing obese children to get ridiculed everyday?

Someone needs to get fired.

damn messed up. A special ed no less. At least we all can see who needs to be in special ed calsses, the principlae deend sane utnil this incident...makes ya wonder who the real brain not performing up to parr is... MR.principale.

what do you expect when the school teachers learned the same way we did and have been dumb down and dumbing down the populace for decades now

the principal should be fired and the kids parents should sue

reply to post by Keyhole


Are you kidding me?!?!?! She needs to be handcuffed to the door, and I would do it for 4 days with no food or water. My son is in special education, called OT (Occupational Therapy) Heaven forbid this ever happen to my son, I would handcuff her that's what i would do and much, much more, I also would sue the school, and take her butt to court and get her charges on child abuse!!!!

Cops can't tell right from wrong. They just follow orders, that's why I stay away from them.

I can't wait to hear about how the principal defends his actions when the girl's family drags his @ss to court!

This is a great story, further proof that we need to have a system of check and balances in our schools to police those in charge.

School board member Marie Thornton says the claim has been forwarded to emergency financial manager Robert Bobb.

I guess they are getting ready to pay the student off. Why else would they forward "The Claim" to the Financial Manager?

[edit on 10-6-2009 by Oatmeal]

reply to post by Happyfeet


The system of checks & balances didn't work this time!

The police officer that was assigned to the school to keep "everything in check" was also the one who actually handcuffed the 11 year old special ed. student to the doorknob, and was told to do so by the other person who is suppose to keep "everything in check", the principal!

[edit on 6/10/2009 by Keyhole]

reply to post by Keyhole


So much for special education. If the responsible adults are that retarded, I don't hold out much hope for our most precious little ones while under the mandatory, oppressive rule of morons.

If it was my kid, you can bet your bottom dollar that you would all be hearing my voice for a long, long time. And it wouldn't be pleasant!

Originally posted by Oatmeal
I guess they are getting ready to pay the student off. Why else would they forward "The Claim" to the Financial Manager?

I noticed this also when I first read the article!

Looks like they already know this was unacceptable and are ready to pay the family off right away and "sweep this under the carpet" just as soon as they can!

This is appalling behavior on part of the Principal and the Police Officer.

However, this is not a unique situation either in Public Schools post-Columbine.

For an example:

My daughter was restrained by a very young female teacher in class when she was 7 years old. My daughter didn't like it, so while being restrained, she rocked her teacher (who was behind her) off balance onto her back and pinned her to the ground calmly telling her "How do you like it? I'll let you up as soon as you calm down." (the same as the teacher had told her). Apparently the teacher wouldn't calm down and so my 7 year old kept her pinned in that position until 5 other teachers came to assist and pulled her off. When the principal called all of her teachers, counselors, and her parents into a special session, all of her educators were shocked and wondering if this was a mistake as this did not sound like the child we all knew (my daughter's Physical Ed teacher kept breaking out in laughter during the meeting while hitting me in the arm to tell me he wants my daughter on the Wrestling team). Although all of her other teachers and counselors insisted that my daughter was mild-mannered and one of their better students with whom they've never had an issue, the outcome was to have her undergo a Psychological Evaluation and determine a course of action from there.

Of course, the Psychological Evaluation determined that my cheerful 7 year old daughter was seriously suicidal and potentially homicidal! So, they removed her to a special school for similar students.

After two years in this special school, she was discharged after it was clear that she posed no danger to either herself or to others, and was placed back into the regular Public School system, but as part of the Special Education program as she was still labeled "Emotionally Disturbed".

In Public School she has once again proven to be mild-mannered and an ideal student until this year when she had a very young female teacher whom she clashed with. (Apparently my now 12 year old daughter has problems accepting young females not much older than herself as Authority Figures.) Since this teacher has had difficulty getting my daughter to submit to some of her more questionable requests, she has had the School Administration consent in writing to have my daughter arrested by the Police if she disobeys in class!!!

Of course, they say this is for the well-being and safety of the other students.

However, doesn't this seem a little extreme?

And what are the things that my daughter has refused to submit to that is now punishable by arrest?

Refusing to remove her makeup from her face (apparently her goth friends put on heavy mascara and eye-liner on her when she gets to school).

Refusing to change her clothes (her mom sends her to school in Hannah Montana clothes which she promptly changes into black clothing that she keeps in her locker).

Refusing to allow the teacher to inspect the contents of her locker (apparently the teacher is looking for contraband materials with sugar in them, such as candy, orange juice, fruit rollups, etc.).

It would not surprise me in the least to get a call from her School telling me that my daughter was arrested because she had been caught with a package of breath-mints in her locker or had used a stick of lipstick on her lips prior to going to class.

There is nothing in the world that is a greater threat to our children's safety than a 12 year old girl armed with mascara or cinnamon flavored breath!

To be honest, the Educational System in America seems to be nothing more than preparing our children for the Penal System in America, rather than helping to foster a generation of children who will be an asset to our Workforce and Economy.

reply to post by fraterormus


I'm stunned by your story. Has the entire wold lost its collective mind?

Another prime, and unfortunate, example of why parents need to be involved in the kids schooling.

Yes, the principle and the police officer were decidedly in the wrong. No doubt of that whatsoever... But... Where were/are the parents who's kids go to this school? They're as guilty, in a different way, as the two school officials.

Apathy. [sarcasm]Let the schools do what they will with our kids, they have our best interests at heart.[/sarcasm]

I'll ask again...Where were the parents?

Where are the parents?

Well, you must not have much experience with the Public School system in America post-Columbine. I certainly know a lot has changed since I went to school (and it wasn't that long ago). Just wearing a necklace with a religious symbol other than a Christian Cross is enough to get you suspended and/or arrested. Dressing in black is a guarantee of being expelled. The essays and reports I wrote in Public School (and got A+ grades on) would now get me a one way trip to the School Counselor, an appointment with a Psychologist, and a transfer to a "special" school for at-risk students.

Because of the tragedy at Columbine, Public Schools have been given almost the same as Police Powers. Students no longer have any rights in Public School, and their parents have no recourse other than with the Civil Courts.

To an extent, I understand and appreciate the situation that Public Schools are in and realize that much of what they do is for Legal Indemnity to protect them from Civil Lawsuits.

If they have students that are diabetic, then it's understandable that the Schools would go to extremes to cover their legal back-sides by confiscating all substances in school that contain sugar from all students, and perform random searches of lockers for substances containing sugar, lest that kid ask one of their friends for a stick of gum and go into a diabetic shock or coma from it, thus putting the School at risk of being sued by the parents.

Or doing the same with any foodstuffs because there are some students with peanut allergies or others with shellfish allergies, and so forth.

I can understand prohibiting OTC medicines as "Illicit Drugs" along with Heroin and PCP. The school doesn't want to be held legally accountable if a student gets drunk on Cough Syrup their parents gave them. So, they just expel and arrest if you have an aspirin in your backpack.

I can understand subjecting students to Metal-Detectors and Bag Searches at the entrance of school. You don't want a child bringing a gun or knife to class. So, if a child is caught with a fingernail file on a small pair of fingernail clippers, the Schools just expel and arrest.

However, there are a lot of other practices that Public Schools expel and arrest for that don't make much sense. Check out the wrong book at the Library and you will find yourself expelled and arrested (so why is it in the School Library then?). Bring a violent (rated T for Teen) videogame downloaded on your iPhone, even if you aren't playing it and it is in your backpack in your locker during class so as not to be a distraction, and the school expels (and possibly arrests). Bring a Model Rocket to School with permission of your Science Teacher and be expelled and arrested for bringing explosives into the School. Identify in any way with a non-mainstream culture and find yourself with a one-way ticket to expulsion from school.

Parents can go to the School Board and petition for a hearing. However, the School is going to pull the "it's in the interests of the well-being and safety of the students" excuse. The only recourse for the parents, at that point, is to call out the lawyers to get any form of remediation from the Public Schools. Even then, there is no guarantee as School Districts tend to have entire firms of lawyers at their disposal, so by the time your case gets to court, your child is already of age to go to College.

Anymore, the only recourse parents have vs. Public Schools is to Home School their children themselves...and to many parents (single-parents, working parents, under-educated parents) that is not a viable option.

Don't blame the parents. Our hands are tied by the system. We can protest. We can threaten to pull our children out of the Public School System, but ultimately the problem is beyond our ability to fix in the immediate now. About the best we can do is let other people know how ridiculous the sound-byte "think of the children" has become, and that common sense in Education has been abandoned for blind obedience to that chant.

reply to post by fraterormus


So the parents are just going to roll over and play dead? Well then, don't complain when this sort of crap happens. Remember, we get what we deserve...

School admin have police powers? who allowed that to happen? The parents. The one's who vote, the ones who pay taxes...those parents. To say that the school was operating in a vacuum is a cop out.

Lay the blame they deserve on them...but reserve a fair share for the folks who allowed this to happen. Again, the parents.

Without knowing anything about the child, I'd have to say that it was poor judgement on the principles. The cop that handcuffed the kid should of looked at the principle and said "You want me to do what?! Didn't watch the video, but I'd have to say the you should only do that to to a child if they present a danger to themselves or someone else.