Georgia, Don't Handcuff Kindergartners
- by: Susan Vaughan
- recipient: Georgia Department of Education
A six-year-old was taken from her Georgia school, her hands in metal handcuffs, and held at the local police station. She was charged with battery for having a "tantrum."
Family members are outraged over what civil rights attorney Shannon Kennedy would call use of excessive force. Kennedy told AP that "Kids are being arrested for being kids,“ and her firm is suing the Albuquerque, N.M., school district over a number of child arrests for minor offenses there.
In addition to emotional trauma, many things can affect a child’s behavior, among them are medication, food allergies, sugar, fumes from maintenance products, and even perfumes, according to Dr. Doris Rapp, who has helped children with behavior issues for years.
Whatever the cause, there is simply no excuse for treating little kids like criminals.
The kindergartner’s aunt told AP the incident was “horrifying” and “devastating,” and the family doesn’t want this happening to another child.
Tell Georgia, Don't Handcuff Kindergartners!
We, the undersigned, oppose the outrageous, excessive force used by Milledgeville, GA police against a kindergartner.
It makes no sense whatsoever to further traumatize children who may be already experiencing trauma or acting out due to some medical condition by frightening them with police action and handcuffing.
We suggest the Georgia Board of Education do some research into the numerous causes of child misbehavior and first assume that any child acting inappropriately, as this kindergartner did, is experiencing some kind of emotional trauma or other medical condition - or just being a kid - before treating them like criminals. Certainly the school could respond to these situations with trained professionals rather than police.
Dr. Doris Rapp has discussed on national TV problems she’s treated successfully simply be removing offending exposures or foods that cause many children to act inappropriately. http://www.drrapp.com/
Rethinking Schools believes that criminalizing children because of curriculum failures and emphasis on punishment has gotten way out of control over the last few years, creating what they call a destructive “school-to-prison pipeline.” The organization says that “zero-tolerance" policies, originally meant to counter drug use, have increased "police presence, checkpoints, and surveillance inside schools."
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/26_02/edit262.shtml
Some students and parents are now pushing to end zero-tolerance laws and create approaches that rely on restorative justice and community building instead of criminalization.
We ask Georgia to become more informed about these issues and stop handcuffing kindergartners or treating other schoolchildren like criminals.
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