A Port St. Lucie first-grade student was handcuffed and committed to a mental health facility because of her classroom behavior, and her parents are furious that the school took such extreme measures.I know we don't spank children anymore, but wouldn't a spanking have done the job better, quicker, and cheaper?
Mickey Shalansky explained Wednesday what he said happened to his 6-year-old daughter at Parkway Elementary. "She couldn't put her in two handcuffs because her wrists are that small, so she put them both in the same handcuff and left marks on my daughter's arms," Shalansky told WPBF 25 News' Bob Kaple.
Sounds like the Mickey's one of those who doesn't believe in spanking...
But a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office report paints a much different picture.
Of a six-year-old desperado?
Deputies said his daughter, Haley, got upset and stormed out her classroom when her teacher asked her to do something. The report said it then escalated into a temper tantrum in the principal's office.
Whoa! That's never happened before, has it? That's not the sort of thing you could train teachers and principals to deal with!
According to the incident report, a deputy said Haley was out of control.
A six-year-old going out of control isn't a long trip.
It said she "kicked the wall, went over to the desk and threw the calculator, electric pencil sharpener, telephone, container of writing utensils and other objects across the desk."
And they let her do that. Nobody even took her firmly by the arm and told her to stop it. Nobody picked her up and parked her butt in a chair and hollered "knock it off!" loud enough to get her attention...
| Nobody hugged her firmly from behind, controlling her arms so she couldn't move, quietly and calmly saying, "Shhh, honey, shhh... I'll let go when you are quiet... Shhhh" |
A smack on the wrist would have resulted in a lawsuit. A bruise would have guaranteed a multimillion dollar settlement. A crack on the butt would have resulted in hard time with the Amiraults...
"I don't think it should have had to come to this -- you know, to put a little girl, 6 years old, 37 pounds in handcuffs and take her away in a police car," Shalansky said.
If you take away all reasonable responses to childish temper tantrums then all that's left are the unreasonable responses...
Even worse is what happened the next day, Haley's parents said.
Mom and Pop didn't come to the school to ask what was up with their darling getting hauled off in cuffs?
A deputy was called to the school again after Haley had another tantrum in the classroom and principal's office.
The child doesn't learn very well, does she? Mom must have forgotten to say "be a good girl" when she dropped her off.
| The child was probably terrified the handcuff/police thing would happen again, and nobody bothered to reassure her. |
No one was legally able to crack her butt to get her attention and holler "Siddown, y'little brat!" It's too bad there wasn't a grown-up in the room.
| Anyone was legally able to smack the desk, making a startlingly loud sound, and shout, "Be quiet! Sit!" It is too bad there wasn't a single grown-up in the room. |
They put a six-year-old in the nut house. Likely she was transported by ambulance, strapped down on a gurney...
"I was terrified," mother Kathy Franklin said. "I left work crying, terrified.
| Who cares if you are terrified, Mother? You need to think about your child's feelings at this moment. |
Not spanking her, obviously. It's better for them if you give them a sedative and an IV and keep them strapped. Anybody can see that.
Haley's parents said their daughter has a temper problem, but has no history of mental illness.
Bullies her Mom and Dad and all around her, but that's not mental illness. That's just doing what she's allowed to do.
Her mother said the school should have called her so she could pick up her daughter rather than have her committed.
"Hello? Is this Haley's Mom?... Come and get your pride and joy or it's off to the nut house with her!"
"They have looked at her here," Franklin said of the New Horizons mental health facility. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my child. I work in daycare. I know what a child that has problems -- you know, I know how to deal with them. I know what they act like."
Does she projectile vomit before or after her head spins around 360 degrees?
Shalansky said to have his daughter committed is "just wrong."
As is shrieking, hollering, kicking the walls, throwing things, and peeing yourself.
The report also said the school has contacted Haley's parents several times about setting up a meeting to discuss her behavior, but they have never shown up.
"A meeting? Hmph. Nuttin' wrong wid my girl! Whudda we need a meeting fer?"
Franklin said she was supposed to meet with school officials Tuesday but had to cancel because she had car problems. Meanwhile, her parents have kept Haley and her sister home from school.
Good idea. School's all the better for it.
| Probably so are the children. It's hard to focus on learning when one might be hauled off to the loony bin at any moment. |