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"A 6-year-old in kindergarten?" Earnest Johnson, the father of Salecia Johson, asked with disbelief. "They have no business calling the police and handcuffing my child," he told WMAZ-TV.
Police defended their actions during the incident which occurred last Friday at Creekside Elementary School in Milledgeville, Ga.
"Our policy states that any detainee transported to our station in a patrol vehicle is to be handcuffed in the back. There is no age discrimination on that rule," Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord told WMAZ-TV.
The family on Tuesday demanded that the city change its policy, the Associated Press reported, and claimed the girl was shaken up while at the police station.
The police officer called to the school later wrote that he "noticed damage to school property and possible assault of other students and staff. I made six attempts to contact her mother via telephone."
"I attempted to calm Johnson down," he wrote in his incident report. "Johnson then pulled away and began actively resisting and fighting with me."
The principal, Dianne Popp, said "a small shelf struck her in the leg while Johnson was throwing items at her," according to the police report, and that the girl "tried several times to get out of the office. Johnson was observed biting the door knob of the office and jumping on the paper shredder and attempted to break a glass frame above the shredder."
Johnson was charged with assault and damage to property, WMAZ-TV reported, but she will not have to go to court because of her age.
Johnson's mother, Constance Ruff, says her daughter was suspended until the start of the next school year.
"She has mood swings some days, which all of us have mood swings some days," she told WMAZ-TV. "I guess that was just one of her bad days."
Asked by msnbc.com if the suspension means the girl will be held back a year, a school official had "no comment" and said the principal would have to respond to that but was not immediately available due to school testing.
The school district superintendent, Geneva Braziel, called the student's behavior "violent and disruptive," the Associated Press reported.
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Johnson's aunt, Candace Ruff, said the girl "might have misbehaved, but I don't think she actually misbehaved to the point that she should have been handcuffed and taken downtown to the police department."
"Call the police? Is that the first step? Or is there any other kind of intervention that can be taken to help that child," she asked.
Ruff added that the girl was by herself in a holding cell and complained about the handcuffs when she and her sister went to get her.
"She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists," Ruff told the Associated Press. "She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up."
Swicord, the police chief, denied the child was held in a holding cell, with the Associated Press reporting that he said she was held in the department's squad room and given a Coke to try to calm her down.
Watch a video report about a Colorado student who was handcuffed last month.
This isn't the first time we've seen schoolchildren handcuffed by police. In Colorado last month, a 6th grader was handcuffed and taken to a juvenile holding facility for disobeying an assistant principal and being "argumentative and extremely rude," according to the police report.
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Only one real problem here, the mom, I wouldn't even call her a mother, that would require that she take some responsiblity and also learn to raise her little witch.
Though I don't think that hawling her to a police station holding cell was necessary, the kid was breaking glass and acting frankly like a crazy person - biting doorknobs???? Maybe the police shouldnt have had so much involvement but the parents CAN NOT justify a kids actions by saying it was a bad day. What kind of teenager do you think they will make? I am 19 and as a teenager I'm going to say that behavior is unacceptable and its only setting the kid up to be a snotty adolescent. Bad day my A$$ >_> if her tempertantrums get that bad it means her parents dont stop them at home.
What next arrest 4 year olds in preschool for crying? Or how about kindergarteners for having an accident on the floor? I don't care what was taking place, handcuffing a 6 year old is really to far. Even after trying to contact the mom 6 times, are you telling me the police couldn't give the kid like a sticker or something to try and calm down the situation? It is all about calming the atmosphere with kids. If a kid is mad, and the parent reacts aggressively it amps up the kid more. They are luck it wasn't me, I would have got my daughter out, gave her to my wife. Tell her see them later, ask for the officer that handcuffed her and punched him or her right in the face.
Great idea!!!! Give her some stickers...want to add ice cream and candy to that too? Who said anyone reacted aggressively besides the child? And you would have modeled assault to your family and ended up in jail. I can see you really do know how to handle children..well, not really, and apparently not yourself either.
I would rather them handcuff my child then to let her hurt herself and others and break furniture, but you sound as if you have things all under control...lol. You would just go punch the officer who was called to keep your out of control, aggressive child from hurting anyone else or breaking glass, knocking over furniture, and refusing to calm down. I think you demonstrated the reason so many kids throw tantrums as they get older. I hate to tell you this, but a tantruming child who gets stickers is getting rewarded for misbehaving. Hope you have plenty of money to buy the bigger bribes they require as teens..lol.
And this isn't about accidents on the floor or crying and you know it isn't. Good thing you'd calm things down by giving the child rewards and punching the officer in the face....lol.
Sounds like a spoiled brat who needed alittle discipline to snap her back to reality. Kids now days just think they can have their way by acting up and if mom and dad fall for it then they get this way. This kid obviously has mom and dad jumping thru hoops so she felt she could pull it on the school too. This is what happens when you take away parents rights to discipline their children...time-outs dont cut it my friend...and now kids lay guilt trips on their parents to get their way too. Seems things were better the old fashion way....and I dont mean beat your kids but there is nothing wrong with a good spanking now and then when they get way out of line... the kids no right and wrong. Things never got this bad until the bible thumpers and government officials started to think they were better at parenting then our parents and grand parents. We all seemed to turn out ok until all these touchy feeling shrinks started all their BS about time-outs being more beneficial. Look at all the crap going on with bullying and beating kids do now days...its a mess. Kids need to learn respect again instead of over educating them about calling CPS on your folks if they dont get their way. Pathetic!!! Time to let parents raise their kids like our parents did...within guide lines of course. We wouldnt have so many spoiled drugged up kids out there. Bi-polar my butt..spoiled brat is more like it. Time to stop drugging up the kids and putting them in front of violent computer games so you dont have to do your job of raising them right. And you wonder why they turn into little angels like this kid. She's not as stupid as you think she is...shes knows what works to get her way with her parents it seems and they fell for it. Too many kids are now days are over medicated as an excuse to get around dealing with raising them wrong.
If that were my child i would think good maybe she would learn from this and i wouldnt happen maybe far worse when she gets older.Childern need to learn that there is always going to be rules! I always told my girls if they got in trouble in school ,when they came home it was going to be double trouble in less they could prove that they were not a fault. Rules are rules..
They shouldn't have handcuffed her like that.
They should have tased her first.
Sounds like the early stages of Trayvon Martin Syndrome.
And you sound like you have terminal evilness. Payback is a female dog!
are you serious? Trayvon was being stalked...totally different situations...
Serious as in her school record is starting to take shape.
Trayvon wasn't even close to the trouble maker at as an early of an age as this girl is...this girl clearly is more troubled and at risk than Trayvon ever was in his early childhood development. And I bet she is being abused by somebody, the behavior patterns are pretty clear of somebody being sexually abused...
It's the water.
Heck to the yeah this kid needed to be hauled off! As a mother of a 20 yr old son and an 11,10 and 7 yr old girls, I do agree that children do need their times to let off steam and vent. But, if my children go to school and are mean or disruptive in any way, I will carry my butt to their school and punish them in front of their peers myself! My kids know that they are to treat others and items as they would their own. I encounter so many women who are tripping in lala land and need to be brought back to reality because they believe their kids do no wrong! And alot of times the kids that are seemingly peaceful, it's because their so hopped up on medicines like ritalin and such, that their like zombies because their parents can't handle them. These people need to stop tranquilizing their children,interact more with their kids, and discipline them accordingly!
This is why kids were spanked from the beginning of time, if they needed it. Now it's almost against the law and kids are out of control druggies, murderers, etc. I really do blame the bad influence of tv and movies. Almost all are violent.
Amen!
So, Carol it's the TV and movies that are teaching kids violence, right? Not being beaten by their parents which seems to be what you advocate. When a kid is hit it teaches them that violence is an answer, don't you get that? I have no problem with what was done here, the kid was out of control and a danger to herself and others something needed to be done. BUt what was done , was done to defuse the situation, not as punishment. I see awhile lot of stupid on this thread and most of it has to do with beating kids in front of their peers, humiliation, etc. seriously, what does that teach the kids, besides anger, resentment, and violence is ow you handle things. I honestly think some of you people would thrive back on the Stone Ages.
I have no doubt in my mind that come next week, the school will have that kid on downers. The problem isnt the kid, but the system. parents are afraid to discipline their kids in fear of going to jail and this is what we have. a society of children who have become unruly and disrespectful.
The child may be mentally ill, maybe the parents are. People are horrible now-a-days and most behave like cave people, so I am not so sure that this is just a blatant lack of civility in people. They don't practice the love of Jesus. That is what is wrong with the world. No one controls themselves. I did email the city hall to question the practice of calling the police for something like throwing a fit. If I was the teacher, I would have physically stopped the little brat, as I would do my own children. Not with abuse, but get her attention. If the parents condone this, they are ruining the child's life and any future relationships. No one will put up with this kind of crap. For this school to choose to call the police on a baby and not the parents, or an exorcist, is ridiculous. This is not in their jurisdiction, and should not be. Just like that 9 year old in lock up because the gun he brought to school accidentally went off and almost killed a girl. A horrible incident, but inappropriate reaction to place a small child with hardened criminal men.
The schools obviously need to be able to go back to corporal punishment in these kinds of severe cases. A good crack on the butt will stop most of them. The other ones need to be hospitalized until they find out what is wrong with them.
This sounds like a possible autism problem. Many parents try to streamline their special ed kids into normal classroom situations. I know firsthand autistic kids can be overly strong, aggressive and hard to handle. This doesn't sound like a normal temper tantrum. I hope the child is tested and properly taken care of.
Bluelake says the poor child is showing signs that she is bipolar ---- guess what???? If you take her and get her diagnosed by a physician/psychiatrist -- then the handling of the situation would be very different due to guidelines for handling special needs children. Just because a parent says "not my child" and that she has mood swings, this does not bipolar disorder make. Sounds like a case of bad parenting and no discipline.
What part of this whole ordeal is better than not spanking your children. Seems to me handcuffs is more harmful than an attention getting swat.
Hope they drew the line at strip searching....
Apparently the parents are not spanking her ass as needed or she would not be acting this way! A ride in the police car handcuffed will hopefully open her eyes if not her parents. If they want to throw the same tantrum then put them in the police car handcuffed and haul them to the station too!!!
I nominate Earnest Johnson and Constance Ruff for parents of the year ;-)
bluelake----i would hate to think of the kind of parent you are. Maybe her's teaching her some manners and proper social etiquette would have eliminated the problem completely. But when you have parents with diferent last names, that tells you something to begin with.
A very cowardly element in our society. Always hiding behind the letter of the law.
I'd rather spend a week with this child than a moment with a great deal of the posters in here. Most of you want some sort of corporal punishment for the child or the parents. Yeah, that'll work.......
Sounds like the behavior of a republican/teabagger...........when they can't have it their way.
or a GSA Vegas traveler! Or a DemoRAT Congressman!
It sounds to me like this child is spoiled or has some sort of behavior issues that need to be addressed. She sure doesn't sound as though I'd want her in school with my grandchildren.
I noticed that they didnt make one mention of race in this article. Is that because she is black? If this had been any other child from any other race, it would have been noted. Could this behavior have anything to do with a lack of parenting and teaching the child to respect elders, not act like anti-social monsters? I think it may also be contributed to a lack of dicipline and good spanking now and then as needed. Again I say stop teaching your children to disrespect elders, and give them the feeling of empowerment (that they do not have). This child will end up in a worse place than jail sadly, if this is not taken under control immediately. What a child learns before 6 will affect them the rest of their lives.
Wow, here comes the lawsuit.
The school tried to call the parents FIRST.. The parents didnt respond so what was the school suppose to do.. let the kid keep throwing stuff adn breaking stuff.. NO.. i think the school and police did the right thing.. Yea kids throw temper tantrums but NOT throw stuff and hurt other people.. Letting a kid do that is BAD parenting. I think the parents need to look at themselves and change their parenting skills.....HOPEFULLY the police did what the parents didnt do which was diciplin the child so the child knows that type of behavior is unacceptable.