Handcuffing a 5 year old
Many are outraged by the video tape of police officers handcuffing a 5 year old girl at school. As a social worker working in the school system with experience working with children who are emotionally disturbed and restraining is common place, I do not have a strong reaction to the situation. I've had at least two situations where police have been called to assist with minor children. I was a foster care worker taking the child for a physical. He had just come into foster care after his paternal aunt, who adopted him, beat him with an extension cord leaving loop marks on his little legs. He refused to get out of the car to go to the physical so I attempted to carry the little guy in to the clinic. While carrying him he bit me in the breast. Once in the medical office he went through examining rooms climbing on the examining tables and knocking books and magazines off of the bookshelves and tables. Some how the doctor was able to examine him. He refused to leave the office. I called the supervisor who advised to take him to the emergency mental health clinic to assess the need for psychiatric hospitalization.
We finally get this little guy in the car to take him to the emergency mental health center. While driving he attempts to open the door and get out while the car is moving. Luckily, I was sitting in the back seat with him to close the door and hold him in. Once we get to the mental health center, he opens the door and takes off running towards traffic. I had to sprint at full speed to catch the little guy. My coworker went inside the clinic to let the staff know what we were dealing with outside. A man in the area helps me carry him back to the clinic and into the building. I had his arms and the guy was holding him by the legs. While all of this is happening the thing that is foremost in my mind is the safety of this little guy while in my hands. I am trying to keep him from harming himself and me and my coworker.
So once he is assessed by the mental health center, they feel that he needs a psychiatric hospitalization. Parents and guardians can transport their children; however, if the child is unwilling to go or puts up a fight they can only be transported by police. In this situation, since he could not be safely transported by myself the mental health clinic called the police for transport. Keep in mind this is usually a last resort. The police officer explained to the little guy that if he was NOT able to get him to cooperate that he would have to place handcuffs on him. The police officer was very nice. We could tell that he did not want to handcuff him. The police officer did transport the child, but he made an agreement with the little guy to allow him to sit in the front seat if he cooperated. I am sure that his allowing the child to do that was against police protocol and procedure. But it worked and he got him there safely.
There were no video cameras to show that he did not follow proper protocol. He got the little guy there safely. If a camera was there would he have handcuffed the little guy, maybe he would have.
I don't have a reaction to the case of the five year old in the handcuffs because I do not know the whole story. However, I've been working with children for 13 years. I've had to restrained them, which I had to be trained to do due to possible injury and harm to the child. Holding and restraining are no common place in the public schools unless it's a school for emotionally disturbed children. I've been injured by children before and during restraining.
I have parents right now who are in serious denial about the behaviors of their children. We have some parents that we cannot reach with no relative or emergency numbers on file.
It's not easy to see a child being handcuffed, but what are the legal alternatives? We can say what we would do to our child, but you can't do what you'd do to your child to someone elses child.
I hope that the little girl and her family gets help. Not only for what she has endured as a result being handcuffed by police, but for whatever is/was happening with her that would cause her to act/react like she did at school. I hope that her parent doesn't get sidetracked by all of the media attention and possible lawsuits and forget about what her child really needs right now...help and attention from her family and professionals. Don't forget about the little girl because while I don't know exactly why she responded the way she did at school towards adults, I do know that it's a serious cry for help. I hope that someone listens to her.
We finally get this little guy in the car to take him to the emergency mental health center. While driving he attempts to open the door and get out while the car is moving. Luckily, I was sitting in the back seat with him to close the door and hold him in. Once we get to the mental health center, he opens the door and takes off running towards traffic. I had to sprint at full speed to catch the little guy. My coworker went inside the clinic to let the staff know what we were dealing with outside. A man in the area helps me carry him back to the clinic and into the building. I had his arms and the guy was holding him by the legs. While all of this is happening the thing that is foremost in my mind is the safety of this little guy while in my hands. I am trying to keep him from harming himself and me and my coworker.
So once he is assessed by the mental health center, they feel that he needs a psychiatric hospitalization. Parents and guardians can transport their children; however, if the child is unwilling to go or puts up a fight they can only be transported by police. In this situation, since he could not be safely transported by myself the mental health clinic called the police for transport. Keep in mind this is usually a last resort. The police officer explained to the little guy that if he was NOT able to get him to cooperate that he would have to place handcuffs on him. The police officer was very nice. We could tell that he did not want to handcuff him. The police officer did transport the child, but he made an agreement with the little guy to allow him to sit in the front seat if he cooperated. I am sure that his allowing the child to do that was against police protocol and procedure. But it worked and he got him there safely.
There were no video cameras to show that he did not follow proper protocol. He got the little guy there safely. If a camera was there would he have handcuffed the little guy, maybe he would have.
I don't have a reaction to the case of the five year old in the handcuffs because I do not know the whole story. However, I've been working with children for 13 years. I've had to restrained them, which I had to be trained to do due to possible injury and harm to the child. Holding and restraining are no common place in the public schools unless it's a school for emotionally disturbed children. I've been injured by children before and during restraining.
I have parents right now who are in serious denial about the behaviors of their children. We have some parents that we cannot reach with no relative or emergency numbers on file.
It's not easy to see a child being handcuffed, but what are the legal alternatives? We can say what we would do to our child, but you can't do what you'd do to your child to someone elses child.
I hope that the little girl and her family gets help. Not only for what she has endured as a result being handcuffed by police, but for whatever is/was happening with her that would cause her to act/react like she did at school. I hope that her parent doesn't get sidetracked by all of the media attention and possible lawsuits and forget about what her child really needs right now...help and attention from her family and professionals. Don't forget about the little girl because while I don't know exactly why she responded the way she did at school towards adults, I do know that it's a serious cry for help. I hope that someone listens to her.
posted by Blackgold at 10:33 AM
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