Six year old handcuffed and arrested for assault and battery. Opinions?

Violent children can be every bit as dangerous as violent adults on occasion. I’d have to know more details to be certain, but it sounds like appropriate force was used under the circumstances.

Some people just do not realize that some of todays children come from addicted parents. Especially, a woman that continues to do drugs, while pregnant.

The final outcome is a newborn child addicted to drugs and many other mental conditions. This may or not be the case here, but remember, a six year old can kill just like a 16 year old.

If restraints (the handcuffs) were necessary to protect everyone involved, then so be it. I don’t think the age of the individual matters much as long as the force used to restrain the person is appropriate.

Sadly, this seems to be the new method to teaching children. Here’s an article on what JP is talking about.

Just about a week ago this same thing happened to a 6yr old girl.

Here’s the proven method I prefer.

Rules and proceedure are there for a reason.

@SpatzieLover The article you posted says the boy was arrested, but not handcuffed. While the method you prefer does sound better, when you have someone (anyone) violently acting out and putting people in danger, removing the person that is acting violently toward others is a priority. Sometimes that must be done with restraints. Once the person is removed from the situation where they can cause harm to others, I’m all for sitting down calmly and finding out what’s really going on. In the case of the little boy, it said he had just returned from being suspended from school because of hitting and biting people a few weeks prior to this incident. There’s a big difference between causing harm and just yelling at someone (like the example in the article you mentioned for the method you prefer).

I am shocked and appalled they did not tase or shoot him repeatedly, as I would have done. After all, the bible says “spare the bullet, spoil the child”.
He is a dangerous violent criminal after all.
This Political Correctness crap is destroying the country.

It seems that grownups could outsmart a six-year-old and not have to resort to this.

Having dealt with violent children I say cuffing the child was the most safe thing to do for all involved.

When you physically restrain a child using techniques created for such situations, a lot of hurt can still be inflicted by and upon the child.

Violently reactive children are not thinking they are reacting. I’ve seen kids put their heads through walls, bite, scratch and kick everyone in site, even run into traffic.

We never handcuffed children, but I worked in facilities where children acted out on a daily basis. If you do not know what you are doing, the child and everyone around is in danger.

Hasn’t anyone considered that a six-year-old in handcuffs can still bite and kick?

They should have hog-tied and muzzled him, obviously. And with the new zero-tolerance rules regarding “negative feedback”, they could knock out all of his teeth if he tries to protest.

It’s unusual to be on the same sarcastic side of an issue as @ragingloli.

Gag & bag the kid, then sing a few bars of the Bear & the Big Blue House….ying yang.

The little snot probably deserved Obviously, the child was out of control and they determined the only way to control him at the moment was handcuffs. I wasn’t there, so I couldn’t say if it was the best way or not.

I had a really bad temperature when I was young. Although I didn’t like them very much, the nuns were able to control me and help me learn self control When I really lost my temper, a nun would hold me tight in a hug until I calmed down and regained control. I suspect that there were no experts in handling children. The police are trained to restrain the violent. It is not their job to comfort the uncontrolled. I would say that teachers and parents fell down on the job.

I think it’s ridiculous. And it’s further ridiculous to necessarily connect any violent child to those drug-riddled moms you love to criticize. Enough.

@Ron_C I work in a catholic school, now if a nun tried to hug a child it would have to be investigated as possible abuse by the school administration. What worked and was allowed in the past is often not an option any more.

We have definate rules that have to be followed if we restrain a child. The police also have rules they follow.

@WestRiverrat what a shame that was one of the saving graces for my Catholic school experience. I didn’t care much for the part where the nuns smacked us with rulers or the really stiff leather strap some carried in their sash.

As long as the kid isn’t being hurt, I don’t have a problem with restraint if he’s really that dangerous. Although it’s kind of hard to believe that grown adults couldn’t restrain a kid without the use of handcuffs. :/ It can also help to protect the kid against himself I guess, in some cases.
But I heard this story once, about how a mother called the cops because her daughter was having a fit. The cops came and tazed the kid. I don’t think she was even ten years old. Now that’s bullshit. It was a question here on Fluther, but I can’t find it anymore. :/

If people learn and use the techniques described in the article @SpatzieLover linked to, it will never get to violence. Teachers will learn to recognize the signs that a child is blowing up, and will deal with it preemptively and without violence. Of course, we’re talking science here, and no one believes in science, so we’ll all keep on beating on kids and escalating the situation until we can call the police and have them cuffed and arrested.

Sometimes I just want to find a way to resign from the human race and go some place more humane.

@wundayatta There are some people that do not give any warning about when they are going to go off. I had one kid in my 7–8th grade class that would be laughing and joking with the teachers one second and throwing desks the next.