Speaking of wasting taxpayers' money...
Via my buddy Badtux comes the story of yet another stupid waste of government resources. Yes, there's an actual Florida town where six-year-old girls are arrested for throwing temper tantrums.
Arrested. For temper tantrums.
For Badtux, this another example of grownups who can't handle kids.
For me, it's more than that. It's an obscene waste of everyone's time. Not as obscene as Al D'Amato and his missus getting free healthcare, but still pretty ludicrous.
It is not law enforcement's job to provide discipline in kindergarten. It's the job of the principal, the teachers, and the teaching aides. Anyone going into the field of education should realize that their students will misbehave, will call each other names, and may even throw the odd temper tantrum. This is a fact of life in an elementary school classroom.
My mother and brother are both teachers. My mother teaches at the high school level and my brother teaches middle school. They deal with hormone-addled horrors on a day-to-day basis. Kids who may be spoiled by their parents. Kids who get lousy grades and don't go to summer school because they threaten to run away and the parents relent. Neither of them would think of calling the cops just because some kid started acting up in class.
Back at my high school, a girl brought a gun to class and threatened the teacher. THEN, and only then, were the police called in. Then, and only then, was it justified. If you've got a Columbine situation in the making, then yes, you'd better dial 911 pronto. Otherwise, it is the SCHOOL'S responsibility to discipline the children and nobody else's.
The original article by Bob Herbert notes that the misbehaving little girl was African-American, and apparently this is not the first time a little black kid has been arrested for a minor incident.
If I were the school superintendant, I would be very curious about why the teachers could not handle a six-year-old child. I would also ask the principal why the teachers were so inept at disciplining children. After all, the cops even admitted that this wasn't the first tot they'd placed in handcuffs. If I were a parent paying taxes to support the schools, I'd be furious. I'd also be asking questions. Is this a problem in the class, the entire school, or the school district? The parents, the school board, and/or the superintendant should step in to ensure that the school has teachers who know how to work with children.
Badtux sees this as yet another example of how our society responds to violence with more violence. I think it's also another example of what happens when American citizens stop giving a crap about the educational system. Schools don't have qualified teachers and don't have good administrators. The result is an environment where kids can't learn or thrive.
Arrested. For temper tantrums.
For Badtux, this another example of grownups who can't handle kids.
I have absolutely no respect for adults who cannot handle a six year old child without calling the cops. None. This is a complete and utter failure in training. A child seeking attention has been rewarded for misbehavior with a *lot* of attention, and thus will misbehave more in the future. This is the dumbest, stupidest, most ignorant thing I've ever heard of....
For me, it's more than that. It's an obscene waste of everyone's time. Not as obscene as Al D'Amato and his missus getting free healthcare, but still pretty ludicrous.
It is not law enforcement's job to provide discipline in kindergarten. It's the job of the principal, the teachers, and the teaching aides. Anyone going into the field of education should realize that their students will misbehave, will call each other names, and may even throw the odd temper tantrum. This is a fact of life in an elementary school classroom.
My mother and brother are both teachers. My mother teaches at the high school level and my brother teaches middle school. They deal with hormone-addled horrors on a day-to-day basis. Kids who may be spoiled by their parents. Kids who get lousy grades and don't go to summer school because they threaten to run away and the parents relent. Neither of them would think of calling the cops just because some kid started acting up in class.
Back at my high school, a girl brought a gun to class and threatened the teacher. THEN, and only then, were the police called in. Then, and only then, was it justified. If you've got a Columbine situation in the making, then yes, you'd better dial 911 pronto. Otherwise, it is the SCHOOL'S responsibility to discipline the children and nobody else's.
The original article by Bob Herbert notes that the misbehaving little girl was African-American, and apparently this is not the first time a little black kid has been arrested for a minor incident.
If I were the school superintendant, I would be very curious about why the teachers could not handle a six-year-old child. I would also ask the principal why the teachers were so inept at disciplining children. After all, the cops even admitted that this wasn't the first tot they'd placed in handcuffs. If I were a parent paying taxes to support the schools, I'd be furious. I'd also be asking questions. Is this a problem in the class, the entire school, or the school district? The parents, the school board, and/or the superintendant should step in to ensure that the school has teachers who know how to work with children.
Badtux sees this as yet another example of how our society responds to violence with more violence. I think it's also another example of what happens when American citizens stop giving a crap about the educational system. Schools don't have qualified teachers and don't have good administrators. The result is an environment where kids can't learn or thrive.
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