Six year old girl arrested in Florida

[Userwhatevernumber]

Sorry if there is already a thread about this, I couldn’t find one.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-51638871/six-year-old-girl-arrested-at-florida-school

AIBU to think this is totally unacceptable and the US police are heartless and cruel?

It’s things like this, that put me off ever living in America 😢😡

Isn't there something moronic and stupidily officous about American police?

I think it's very different being a police officer in the US than the UK- the chances of you being shot must be a lot higher in the US than in the UK. That might make you a little 'officious' 💁🏻‍♀️
The ridiculous US gun laws in the US aren't the polices fault. Laws such as the three strikes laws make it more likely that people the police are arresting will be violent. Crime in the US is also a different beast to that in the UK - it's not the polices fault.

It’s sadly the reality of being non-white in the West, police brutality is almost a given.

I read about this and was aghast. Unfortunately it is true that the US police don’t have good form for dealing with Black people or people with behavioural difficulties - IIRC this girl had ADHD and I know some US autism advocates have released guidelines and advice for autistic people if they’re approached by police as it could have horrible consequences if they react in an unusual way to something 🙁

But behavioural difficulties or otherwise, who TF is arresting six-year-olds?

Thank god we have the principle of doli incapax here and aren’t so stupid. Even if our CPS is in a right state.

I'm more concerned about the fact that a school thought it was appropriate to call the police on a six year old..... just why?? I've encountered some pretty severe behaviour in my career and it wouldn't cross our minds.
Then they actually let her go, in handcuffs, sobbing and nobody tried to talk to her, go with her or anything?????

They do handcuff children in Britain, often ones with disabilities. www.google.com/amp/s/www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/inverness/1078686/seven-year-old-autistic-daniel-was-handcuffed-by-police-after-trashing-his-bedroom-during-a-meltdown/amp/ www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-restraint-epileptic-boy-11-legs-handcuffs-family-court-a9024336.html%3famp

There've been a lot of these, and often quite brutal. Something is very wrong that this kind of thing can happen even once, never mind repeatedly.
That poor, poor little girl.

Good God. Is the teacher in the video the Head? Or a support worker? She looked passive, inexperienced and not authoritative at all. Where is the Head?

This is a disgrace. Not just from the police side. But also from the school/teacher side aswell.

This is Florida, USA at its worst. Would this be done in the UK?

In America they are allowed to arrest children with supervisor permission. He’s lost his job because he didn’t get permission.

What the f were school doing ringing the police and not her parents!!!!!

Of course the hand ties were wrong. But what level of violence against the teachers had this child reached for the police to be called in the first place?

As others have said. Teachers have a right not to be attacked. Full stop.

FordPrefect an American woman was shot for having an Autistic meltdown pretty recently. It really saddened the Autistic community........she was well known as she used to post videos showing how her service dog calmed her when she was becoming agitated.

In the US the majority of states do not have a minimum age for arrest.

Only 21 states have a minimum age and the youngest they can arrest someone is 6 (North Carolina) then 7 in a couple of states including New York, then 8, 10, 11 and 12 for others including California.

The 6 year old was led away in zip ties because they are too small for handcuffs. They were also charged with battery due to their attack on a teacher. Just because a child is calm later does not excuse their behaviour. We do not know how many incidents like this preceeded this arrest. I don't think it is right to arrest her but I am unsure on the legalities of educational rights of students in the US and that school district.

I think we all agree that someone should be allowed to do their job without fear of being punched and kicked. Would this be different if this were a NHS worker? Or is it that it was a teacher who was assaulted, who no doubt has to still teach this child.

What "punishments" do you think can be handed out in a UK primary schools? Most children for misbehaving in class lose 5 minutes of playtime which needs to be supervised, so the staff member loses 5 minutes of their break too.

I have tried to teach a small group of children some maths work whilst telling them to please try to ignore another 9 year old in another room nearby yelling "fuck you all you bastards, I hope you fucking die let me the fuck out of this fucking room"

Luckily I have never been attacked, but primary school staff get spat in the face, broken fingers, kicked and punched. These are main stream primary schools trying to teach children with behavioural issues. It is very hard work.

I think we all agree that someone should be allowed to do their job without fear of being punched and kicked. Would this be different if this were a NHS worker? Or is it that it was a teacher who was assaulted, who no doubt has to still teach this child

I am sure everyone agrees that people should be allowed to do their job without fear of being punched or kicked.

I don't think that handcuffing a 6 year old and charging them with assault and battery achieves anything at all.

Because what happens afterwards? What is the sentence? A year in jail?

The only thing this has achieved is to remove a 6 year old child to a different environment. And charge her in a court.

That child stills needs teaching. Plus what sounds like a lot of other support to address her issues.

Because that behaviour does not come out of anywhere - it comes from somewhere.

I think we all agree that someone should be allowed to do their job without fear of being punched and kicked. Would this be different if this were a NHS worker? Or is it that it was a teacher who was assaulted, who no doubt has to still teach this child.

Never ok for a teacher to be assaulted or anybody else, but there are other ways of handling it. Behaviour policies that are actually put into use, positive handling training, loads of de escalation training and SENd specific training. Calling the police on a six year old isn't the way forward.

What the f were school doing ringing the police and not her parents!!!!!

The reports indicate that it wasn't the school who called them but the officer whose voice we can hear, described as a school resource officer. I assume that means he was an officer attached to the school in some way. The second report indicates that he wrote an arrest report saying that the school staff wanted to press charges, but they categorically deny saying anything of the sort - so the whole thing seems to have been outside their control.

I have a 6 year old daughter, and reading that makes me feel sick. Fucking America, land of Nightmares as another poster said.

Then they actually let her go, in handcuffs, sobbing and nobody tried to talk to her, go with her or anything????

Agree @definitelynottwelvenow, it is chilling that nobody helps her or even comforts her. It is only afterwards when the girl isn't there that they ask if the restraints were really necessary. No mention of "can you wait until her parents are here?" Or "Can one of us come with her?" But as someone posted upthread, given the staff were black and the way some police officers in the US treat black people in general (& the officer's attitude) what would the consequences have been for a group of black women who had tried to interfere with the arrest?

I don't know why some posters are saying that there's pearl clutching going on on this thread. That little girl will be traumatised for life, and I don't think it is "pearl clutching" to say so.

"Of course the hand ties were wrong. But what level of violence against the teachers had this child reached for the police to be called in the first place?"

If a child is behaving in an unsafe way there are safe ways of handling it including as a last resort, physical ones, without calling the police.

The children and teenagers at my son's school when distressed can be physical towards staff but they manage to handle it without police and ties or handcuffs being needed.

This was awful to watch. The police officer has rightly been sacked.

Giroscoper

Although I agree with a lot of what you have said and think the way people excuse violence against teachers in this country is disgusting, nobody benefits from the arrest of a 6 year old. They don’t have capacity to understand criminality. A child repeatedly attacking staff might feasibly (in my mind) have to be removed from state education because it isn’t acceptable, but arrested and cuffed while crying and begging adults to help her? That’s chilling to watch, isn’t it?

I read it that the person who was fired was the one whose bodycam filmed not the arresting officer. It was one of the most disturbing things I have seen.

I still don’t understand why there wasn’t an appropriate adult designated to go with the girl. This wasn’t a case of picking her up on the street for attacking someone. She was in school, calmly waiting in the office. The school should have insisted she be kept there until her parent could be contacted or at very least a teacher who she knew should have gone with her.

The teacher supervising her seems totally cold and callous when she's being arrested. I'd be after her job too.

The thing is, that this could potentially have life long consequences for the little girl. Can you imagine the utter powerlessness and fear? The nightmares, the flashbacks every time she sees a police car? Nausea, stress, trauma? I hope the family manage to get compensation for her so that they can pay for intensive therapy for the little mite.

I couldn't even bring myself to watch the video as all I could think of is how terrified my children would have been in that situation. What sort of man is proud of arresting a 6 year old? I know he has been dealt with since, but to even do it in the first place.