# Not sure if I should pit the police or the mother **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 21, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592 "2005-03-21T17:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/1 "2005-03-21T17:32:25Z")
[Story link](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20050318/ap_on_re_us/child_arrested) Once again Florida schools are in the news, this time arresting and cuffing a 5 year old for basically throwing a tantrum. However, the mother’s response sounded so familiar to me as a long time resident of DC that I could not pass up sharing it. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/2 "2005-03-21T18:02:11Z")
Are the police required to arrest anyone who has a complaint filed against them? OTOH, she did physically harm another person. Maybe the cops were trying to scare her straight or something. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/3 "2005-03-21T18:08:50Z")
Well what I was reading before basically said she wasn’t participating in class and when asked to join in with the jelly beans she started freaking out. They then sent her to the office where she calmed down before flipping out again… then when she was put in the police car she was flipping out there and they put the ankle cuffs on her because they were afraid she would hurt herself kicking out like that in the car. [Here we go](http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBFR3AVF6E.html) > [@](#): > > Officers contacted the state child abuse registry because they had concerns about what were said to be sudden, negative changes in the girl’s behavior and statements she made, the police report says… > > The girl was sitting on the floor, pouting and refusing to take part in a math exercise involving jelly beans, the report says. > > It said that eventually, the girl got up, went into the math teacher’s office and started throwing things from the desk into the trash. > > The teacher had the other students in the class leave. > > Another teacher was called to help, but the girl kicked her in the shins, hit her in the arm, and tried to scratch her, the report says. She calmed down after 25 minutes, the report says, but once she was in Di Benedetto’s office, she started throwing things again and struck Di Benedetto three times, in the arms and stomach. Then police were called. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/4 "2005-03-21T18:12:27Z")
But the police set her baby up! ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/5 "2005-03-21T18:17:35Z")
Flutterby, thanks, that is a much more complete account. Looks a lot less like over reaction in that one. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/6 "2005-03-21T18:32:39Z")
Given other recent news stories, that 5-year old is lucky she didn’t get tasered, maced, and shot with a bean-bag shot gun, and sent to juvie for a stint. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/7 "2005-03-21T19:07:14Z")
**Metacom** , the cutoff for tasers is 6 years old. Give it time. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/8 "2005-03-21T19:16:33Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > Given other recent news stories, that 5-year old is lucky she didn’t get tasered, maced, and shot with a bean-bag shot gun, and sent to juvie for a stint. So…punching, kicking, scratching several people as well as trashing two offices is a stint? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/9 "2005-03-21T19:28:18Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > So…punching, kicking, scratching several people as well as trashing two offices is a stint? I don’t understand what your trying to say? Is that the point or something? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/10 "2005-03-21T19:54:02Z")
Personally I’m not sure what to think about this situation. In a proper functioning education system educators should have the right to physically restrain violent children to keep them from hurting themselves, other students, or school employees. I have no idea why the child wasn’t just restrained and the child’s mother called. Maybe it is the result of some inane policy. Or maybe the school regularly deals with overly violent children by calling campus police, because campus police are probably better trained in the matter. That’s the story the principal seems to be offering, as he said he did not think the city police should have been involved. At many American High Schools a security guard or someone in a similar position would deal with a problem like this by restraining the student. And if there was a violent attack involved it probably would be sent to the police if the student was rampaging and wouldn’t stop. In a situation like this I think it would have been best for some sort of child care professional who knows how to deal with temper-tantrum throwing kids to have stepped in and kept the child under wraps until the mother could take her home. But I guess for financial reasons not all elementary schools could employ people like that. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/11 "2005-03-21T19:54:52Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I don’t understand what your trying to say? Is that the point or something? Just saying that cops are not magic fairies that come in and sprinkle “Don’t violently attack yourself and others” dust. They go in get a situation under control with the least amount of harm as possible. This kid wasn’t just pouting in a corner but thrashing around violently. What exactly would your solution have been to a kid that won’t calm down is attacking yourself and others and is trashing an office? It’s not like they beat her with billy clubs for an hour. They cuffed her tossed her in the car and she STILL was fighting. This weird notion that kids can’t be an active danger to themselves and others makes me depressed. My mother worked with mentally disabled people of all ages and she had to physically ‘take them down’ (as the term went) kids about that age. She has scars on both her arms from scratches and bites some of them over 3 inches long. Sometimes you have to restrain someone for their own damn good and you actually save them from harm in the long run. It also annoys me when people try to dismiss a beserker child as just throwing a tantrum when it’s clear the level of behavior has gone well beyond anything normal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/12 "2005-03-21T20:01:53Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Personally I’m not sure what to think about this situation. In a proper functioning education system educators should have the right to physically restrain violent children to keep them from hurting themselves, other students, or school employees. > > I have no idea why the child wasn’t just restrained and the child’s mother called. Maybe it is the result of some inane policy. Or maybe the school regularly deals with overly violent children by calling campus police, because campus police are probably better trained in the matter. That’s the story the principal seems to be offering, as he said he did not think the city police should have been involved. > > At many American High Schools a security guard or someone in a similar position would deal with a problem like this by restraining the student. And if there was a violent attack involved it probably would be sent to the police if the student was rampaging and wouldn’t stop. > > In a situation like this I think it would have been best for some sort of child care professional who knows how to deal with temper-tantrum throwing kids to have stepped in and kept the child under wraps until the mother could take her home. But I guess for financial reasons not all elementary schools could employ people like that. When you say “restrained” and “kept under wraps”, what exactly are you saying they should have done with the child? If the child is out of control and attacking people, what options do you have? Lock the kid in a room and call the mother would seem the only alternative to calling the police. I can imagine that being pitted and the school being sued by the mother. The police are not social welfare agents. They get called into a bad situation and deal with it the best they can with the limited resources available. Sometimes a good dose of Mace seems appropriate, at least for the mother. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/13 "2005-03-21T20:02:11Z")
opps I see I misread your post. My only excuse is that it’s my bedtime. Apologies. _slinks off to sleep_ ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/14 "2005-03-21T20:03:25Z")
“stint” = stretch of time, not the same as “stunt” ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/15 "2005-03-21T20:06:26Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > So…punching, kicking, scratching several people as well as trashing two offices is a stint? No, the smallest sandpiper native to North America is a stint. It is also an indefinite period of unbroken time. To send some one to “juvie for a stint” is to lock them up for a while. It should not be misread as “juvie because of a stint”. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/16 "2005-03-21T20:07:23Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I don’t understand what your trying to say? Is that the point or something? I think Darkhold’s a bit confused about what you meant. “Sent to juvie for a stint” here means “for a short while,” not “over a little fuss.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/17 "2005-03-21T20:26:37Z")
What a sucky situation - for the police, the teachers, the classmates, and the little girl who isn’t being socialized. My oldest niece had temper tantrums like this at age 5 - heck, she still has them at age 10. Maybe she would have benefited from some time handcuffed in the back of a police car. She carefully reserved her tantrums (the word is too mild for what she does) for home, though. As for handcuffing a five year old, I can totally see that. When I was a lab tech in another life, I used to have to take blood from resisting children - you cannot believe how strong a fighting child is. We simply couldn’t take blood from kids over about two years old if they started fighting. Teachers don’t get paid enough to get black eyes from their students. I would like to know how they “set her baby up.” What was this, a sting operation? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/18 "2005-03-21T20:29:17Z")
Five years old. ::: sheesh :: I’ve had to subdue a teen or three and one under 10 type. Wet sheet works good, almost a net. Instant straight jacket without the stigma. Of course, in today’s society, people would rather have suits and counter suits. It was just a little kid… Not that hard to stop if you can stand the noise. It is the sue happy society we are in that is most to blame for allowing this kind of stuff to escalate to this magnitude. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/19 "2005-03-21T21:07:11Z")
From **Flutterby** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Officers contacted the **state child abuse registry** because they had concerns about what were said to be **sudden, negative changes in the girl’s behavior** and statements she made, the police report says. [my bold] I am suspecting that there’s a whole lot more going on here than kindergarden temper tantrums. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592/20 "2005-03-22T12:01:27Z")
Did anyone else notice this child’s size? According to Flutterby’s link, she’s 4 foot 5 and 60lb. I’m no expert, but that seems pretty big for a five-year-old, doesn’t it? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-if-i-should-pit-the-police-or-the-mother/295592.md?page=2)