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Let's be honest here. Given the mother's demeanor now ("He's a perfect angel at home; it's all the school's fault"), the police were probably smart not to lay a hand on the kid. She would be screaming police brutality and looking to sue the teachers, the school, and the police had that kid come away with so much as a scratch. An 8-year old in a rage can be a formidable thing to behold. And let's not forget the ages of the kids who shot up the school in Arkansas (one was 11), so don't assume that because he's only 8, he can't be dangerous. The child clearly has an established history of behavioral problems; I believe that they said on TV this was the third time the police had been called to the school due to his behavior. Child needs a good therapist ASAP, as does the mother!
Your right, a law suit would soon follow, and I see one coming up with my magical crystal ball
In all honesty If I was a cop I could not know how I would have handled the situation..or any situation until it it was put in front of me.
Given their training and liability, I can just about betcha that these officers weighed every option available to them and came up with the most logical choice.
No officer goes into work hoping to pepper spray an 8yo.
I have nothing to say about this boy's momma.... she speaks for herself and her child is a reflection of her parenting skills.
Looks like the use was perfectly warranted in this case... though, at first I was rather not happy of the idea.
The kid DID need some different intevention and, had his mother not taken him to national TV (what a thing to reward and praise "a hero"!) afterwards, it might have been enough to make him think better next time.... as long as there is no medical condition that's stopping him from thinking clearly in moments of rage.
(Whew, I feel better about my 8-yo tantrums now!!)
I think the pepper spray wasn't overkill at all. I think what was overkill is the kid basically throwing T.V's. chairs and other foreign objects and wielding a knife while other kids are in another room being put to safety. That's a total overkill, I mean, how the heck did it even get that far? This kid is Might Mouse or something?
I know he's only 8, but can't elementary schools expel children like this? Seriously. How many times do the police need to be called before a school can expel an 8 year old?
I know he's only 8, but can't elementary schools expel children like this? Seriously. How many times do the police need to be called before a school can expel an 8 year old?
The rules are really different for different situations. I would assume this child is already in a special education classroom, so he is getting services. I do think that a child this violent may need a special school, not just a special class. After all the other 8 children in the class have a right to be safe.
OTOH, some schools expel for completely crazy things like this one:
He was expelled and forced to attend a *correctional* school because he brought a toy gun (clear plastic) to school in his backpack and showed it to kids on the playground.
Why a child who actually attacks others cannot be expelled is unclear to me.
That kid needed exactly what he got and should have gotten it sooner!
He will think twice, despite momma's defense, and the publicity, he will remember sometimes big people fight back. He was just hiding under that "I'm just a little boy" routine. IMO, if you're old enough to hit, you're old enough to be hit!
Wow. We are supporting the use of chemical crowd control on little kids....
Did we turn evil?
The boy had a sharp object in his hand, telling the officers to come get him, this is no typical 8 year old, he was breaking tvs and trying to ram a cart into the door where the teachers were hiding the children from him.
I support the cops 100%.
I also have been pepper sprayed before,not by the police in a bad way but in a training setting, it hurts, it stings and you can't open your eyes or it hurts more but its nothing in comparison in what they COULD have done.
And I bet those officers though real hard before doing so because I would have hated to have been an officer on that call, a child acting like an adult in a violent fit of rage yet I would had to of been really careful in using methods to subdue him because I couldn't have used the same that I would for an adult and any little mistake could have cost me the job, that's a ****ty situation to be in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caligula1
I honestly dont know how to feel about this, the kid was 8 how hard would it have been to disarm a kid weilding a piece of molding?
Seriously how much physical force would it have taken?
If it was a gun or other sort of hard impact projectile, sure disarm however you can.
Most if not all police wear kevlar vests, capeable of stopping bullets so a were they afraid a pointy flimsy piece of molding was going to penetrate?
Would the child @ 8 have the cunning to "aim for the eyes"?
I also ask myself this question every time I see a child commiting a violent act...
"what makes a kid so young even think to do something like this"
The mother is trash in my opinion for parading her kid in front of TV, but it's cash in her pocket.
You have to think about it from a police perspective, which no one here but me has because none of you know how you are suppose to by the book handle these types of situations.
You can just run up to the 8 year old who has trashed a class room and is now wielding a piece of wood with a knife like point, it compromises officer safety, which you can't just disregard, because if the cop gets hurt what use is he in stopping the criminal. When people have objects like the child had you either use your spray or your taser, just because its a child doesn't mean that you can just run up and disarm him.
Also the child or the officers could have really gotten hurt had they tried to physically disarm him, the piece of wood could have hit someone and I don't appreciate the sarcasm of you thinking the officers were afraid of the "flimsy piece of molding" going through their vest. Did you know a vest stops SOME bullets, even then its not all the time and you CAN get stabbed through a vest.
They made the right decision. In order to keep from hurting the boy or them getting hurt they sprayed him from a distance and got him to a point where they could restrain him without too much force and they didn't hurt the boy so now they can all keep their jobs and not lose it over some horrid little 8 year old.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyNewMe
Looks like the use was perfectly warranted in this case... though, at first I was rather not happy of the idea.
The kid DID need some different intevention and, had his mother not taken him to national TV (what a thing to reward and praise "a hero"!) afterwards, it might have been enough to make him think better next time.... as long as there is no medical condition that's stopping him from thinking clearly in moments of rage.
(Whew, I feel better about my 8-yo tantrums now!!)
I was perfectly warranted.
Like I said I have been pepper sprayed before, it sure hurts but its not the end of the world, it causes no permanent damage, it just hurts.
I saw this interview on the Today Show and I was embarrassed for the Mom. Here she was telling the entire nation that her son has issues. If I remember correctly this was not the first time the police had to be called to "calm" the boy. I think she said something to the effect, the other times the police came they were able to talk him down. I was dumbstruck when she said that. Then her saying her son has none of these problems at home, I was like, yeah right lady, we all have stupid tattooed across our foreheads.
I feel for the boy because he obviously has major issues that are not being addressed by the parents. IMO the police did what they thought was best in that situation.
Hmmmm....... He threw a tv, threw chairs, tried using a cart to break into a room where teachers brought younger kids for safety, he refused to drop his makeshift "weapon", he defied the cops' orders.
For those of you who say the cops could subdue this kid.... okay, so what happens if the kid stabs/kills a cop with the weapon he had? What if the cop goes to subdue the kid and hurts the kid in some way?
The cops had no other choice but to use pepper spray on this kid. It got the job done, the kid wasn't hurt.
I think this kid is being hurt more by his "mother" parading him all over the television trying to get publicity for him and, of course, I'm sure there's a lawsuit pending because her sweet little angel couldn't have possibly done what all those mean old adults are saying he did and now he has vision problems and breathing problems from the squirt of pepper spray and he's suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is afraid to go to school, etc etc etc etc. I would love to see the shyster, ambulance chaser who takes up this case!
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) afterwards, it might have been enough to make him think better next time.... as long as there is no medical condition that's stopping him from thinking clearly in moments of rage.
