Wanted: a child whisperer

You must have read, like me, the story of this five year old girl in Florida who was arrested and cuffed by the police for throwing temper tantrums in class. Having read this brief report, you must have thought, like me, that the school’s call to the police was overkill and that the police handcuffing an unruly five year old is a tad excessive. Why not taser her while they’re at it?

Well, the whole incident was videotaped and you can watch it here: http://www.sptimesphotos.com/video/office.html

According to the tape, this was not the first incident where the police had to be called. I don’t know her medical situation, but she probably has some kind of attention-deficit or hyperactivity problems that should be looked at. My ex has a daughter who displays the same behaviour, although in her case it was compounded by a complete laissez-faire policy from the father. My point (and I’ve already made it in a previous post (http://samsarashmamsara.blogspot.com/2005/02/to-spank-or-not-to-spank.html) is that sometimes, you have to physically snap a child out of an emotional turmoil manifested in a temper tantrum, by force if necessary. In the case of the girl in the video, the handcuffing was a good move, and seemed to be the only trick that broke down her hostility and defiance. Maybe it’s my Asian side, but I don’t think it’s normal to let a five year old child wreck up a place, because the adults are afraid to be forceful and take charge of the situation.