police pepper spray 8 year old

anneg

when i read the headline i was appalled, but as i read the story and got to the part where it said this is the THIRD time the police have been called to the school to pacify this kid i had to wonder what the fvck is going on with this kid, and what are his parents doing about it?

angelabbf

Sounds like that family needs some professional help to manage his behavior issues.  And while the headline makes it sound awful, that probably was one of the least 'invasive' or injury-inducing options available to the officers. The kid and parent even admitted he probably deserved it....  Wow. Crazy story!

cromero49

I agree, after reading the entire story provided it looks like pepper spray really was the best option.  What the heck is going on with that kid?!  I don't get the mom saying she wished they would have "talked him down."  As if the school officials weren't already trying that?!

CheekyGirl22

Wow, I am inclined to think that there is much more to this story.  There has got to be something going on in that kids life. 

greekwife05

This family was on the Today show yesterday.  The boy was alone, no other children in the class room when he was peppered twice!  He was also at a school for children with behavioral issues.  He is now in a regular school and has had no other problems since leaving that school.  

 

hannikan

Yeah, it's sad that it got to that point but I don't think they had other options. Unfortunately I've known of and seen (once) kids do this kind of thing, though not quite this bad. Some 14 yr olds threw chairs at each other in a fellow student teacher's class and when I was subbing in a 3rd grade class a student shoved a desk over in anger (violently). In the latter case he calmed down quickly and was fine afterward but it was still crazy to see this small child seem deranged for a few seconds. The look in his eye, whoa. This kind of aggression in children and teens unfortunately happens more often than people think. Hopefully the parents won't just ignore his problems or blame the school but actually seek some counseling/anger mgt.

torylynn1

I almost posted this yesterday but didn't know what kind of responses I'd get...

At first I was like dang that's brutal but I saw him on the Today show and I'm ok with their decision. Yes, I hope they tried to talk him down, but he said in his interview that he wanted something sharp to hit them with, and told them if they came out he'd kill them. Yikes. He is a big kid too. He was in a school for kids with behavorial issues, and was the only kid in the classroom. I agree with the Mom that an officer or officers equipped to deal with this kind of situation should have been called to try to difuse the situation, but ultimately the kid did have a weapon as was being threatening.

His Mom said he's been tested for all kinds of issues and can't be diagnosed-He's never (according to her) had these issues outside of school-I just hope they can figure out why he flips and get him treatment he needs. Poor kid, and poor school and cops being put into that situation of fear.

Also, his school is in the same school district as Columbine, so you can imagine their fear.

rori11

There was an interesting discussion on P&CE yesterday about this.

Mrs.BoomBoom

This is terrible.  What impact does it have on the other students who need to be rushed from the room and barricaded while this child rampages?  This is not right.  Here those students would be given a behavioral support plan which would do nothing and the school would be able to do very little to discipline the child (and would not be able to suspend or expel)

mandy0505

Kuddos to the Officer, what an amazing job he or she did. I think the situation was quickly resolved with the quick thinking and actions and hopefully the kids who were in the office are getting help for being threatened.

I'm disapointed with the mother but that is today's society. She expects the Police to teach her son not to do these things rather than her teaching him herself. AND  then questions the way they handled it.

If I were the mother, I'd rather have my child pepper sprayed then a baton or taser used. It is not realistic to expect these Officers to go hands on with the child when he has a weapon and is willing to hurt people with.

Again, Kuddos to the responding Officers and to the teacher who took the other children into an office so quickly!

mrswall84

Maybe I'm crazy but it seems like kids have this mentality that can do whatever and whenever they want. I know I've run into problems like that since I started teaching and it's becoming more and more common. It's extremely tiring. Do parents not discipline anymore? Is it about being your child's "friend?"

Mrs.BoomBoom

mrswall84:

Maybe I'm crazy but it seems like kids have this mentality that can do whatever and whenever they want. I know I've run into problems like that since I started teaching and it's becoming more and more common. It's extremely tiring. Do parents not discipline anymore? Is it about being your child's "friend?"

Agreed!  And agreed that I'm seeing it more and more.  And agreed that I'm tired (and afraid of the future).  I had a meeting with a parent recently.  The kid's not doing their homework (and not doing well on tests) and as a Freshman is very close to not being on track for graduation.  The parent throws up her hands in exasperation saying she just doesn't know what to do and asks for suggestions.  I mention his new clothes and the TV and computer the kid says he has in his room and the cell phone and everything else and suggest that he could 'earn' those privileges with his grades (or lose them with his current grades) she was HORRIFIED!  But I'm expected to help him???  ::sigh::

MrsJulieT

I totally think they did the right then. You can guarantee if they had laid a hand on the kid to try and restrain him that way the family would have probably sued for excessive force.