Black Caucus Intervenes On Behalf Of Handcuffed 7 Year Old Student

[ohio_liberal]

Following up on my post from yesterday:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3549311



Leaders with the Ohio Valley Black Caucus have said they've been impressed with the way Ohio County School officials have handled their concerns in the past.

But the case of the 7 year old boy handcuffed in Bethlehem has raised those concerns to a whole new level.

<snip>

"He's been harrassed by the other kids," says Wiggins. "But when he says something back to them he's the only one who gets called to the office. This has been going on for some time."

Wiggins says she'll talk to school officials on Wednesday, and if she's not satisfied, she'll file a civil rights complaint with the state school board.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/4420061/detail.html


Father Speaks Out About Handcuffing

Bledsoe says the school is not giving his son the proper treatment. In the past the school called in reinforcements because of a problem between his son and another student.

"A child hit my son and was teasing my and son, the situation escalated. The school called the police, said Bledsoe

When the police showed up Bledsoe says his son was threatened.

"He told my son if we come back up here again you're going to jail. They told him he was going to jail the next time they come in so this incident, this past Friday when he saw the police officer he thought he was going to jail, said Bledsoe.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/4420077/detail.html

[yella_dawg]

1. Is it just me....

Or is this society flying apart at an accellerating rate?

This crap is just insane, and nobody seems to notice that aspect of it all.

[ohio_liberal]

3. Going to hell in a handbasket

Yup. :(

[ohio_liberal]

2. More...

Wheeling morning paper editorial:

Handcuffs Last Resort for Youths

<snip>
Most people, we think, view handcuffs as more appropriate for adults. Handcuffing a child is seen by many as an extreme measure.

But educators, faced with extremely unruly students, sometimes believe they have no choice but to call the police. Too many teachers and principals fear that if they physically restrain students, they may find themselves targets of lawsuits. That is a sad commentary on modern society.

Still, we would hope that alternative methods can be found to restrain children who become extremely unruly in school. Handcuffs should be viewed as a last resort.

http://news-register.net/edit/story/0427202005_edtiedit1.asp

[ohio_liberal]

4. BTW....

The Ohio Valley Black Caucus is not normally a group we see in the news locally, but in the last week this is the second time they've felt compelled to intervene in Ohio County schools. Last week a child who happens to be a minority was slapped in the face (with a stack of papers) by a teacher.

[bpilgrim]

5. i am glad to hear someone is looking out for these kids

chaining children this young and younger is simply insane.

peace

[ohio_liberal]

6. And one other thing I'd like to note

In my first post about this, quite a few people thought handcuffs were the right the to do because the child was attempting to run off the school grounds. I think it's important to note that the child was probably running because he thought the police were taking him to jail since he had been threatened with just that at a previous time.

Edited to add this as well:

The school administration did NOT call the parents first when the child began acting up. They called the police, then the parents.