A 6-year-old was handcuffed by the school's security guard at Fernwood Elementary in Chicago for taking some candy off of her teacher's desk. Not only was this little girl handcuffed for taking the candy, she was then handcuffed in the dark under some stairs. This is way too extreme of a punishment.
The little girl said that the handcuffs hurt her, and she was crying when the security guard finally pulled her out from under the stairs. The principal tried to apologize to the girl's mother afterwards, but this isn't enough. Chicago Public Schools should make sure that all school officers know when it is and isn't acceptable to handcuff a child, and also that all practices for restraint and seclusion are appropriate. Please ask Chicago Public Schools to investigate this incident, and make sure that no other child is treated in this manner.
Dear Chicago Public Schools,
Recently, a little 6-year-old girl at Fernwood Elementary was handcuffed and put under dark stairs -- where she was crying and said that the handcuffs hurt her. This was all because she took some candy off of her teacher's desk.
It's not appropriate for a school security guard to treat a child in this manner. The guidelines for restraint, seclusion, and use of handcuffs on a child should be reviewed and communicated to all school officers so that no other child is treated this way.
Thank you for your time.
