I teach up in East Harlem, loads of kids behave in ways that threaten teachers and students well being. The main problem is as a teacher you are not allowed to touch a kid. Doesn't matter what they are doing, you can't restrain them in any way. As for a social worker or other outside agencies, i.e. psych evaluations, that can only happen if the parent consents, which almost never happens. So calling in the cops is the only solution most of the time. Basically, the system is not one the side of the kids or the teachers.

Maybe the idiot mother should have explain to the dimwit kid that his behavior is totally unacceptable.

Rather than semi condoning it by starting that petition.

Basically Idiots raising idiots...

What no one here seems to understand is that this was probably not a typical kiddie tantrum that a teacher or even social worker couldn't control. It wasn't because the child was whining because s/he didn't get their way. If the cops were called (and/or the EMTs), this child was in extreme emotional distress. They weren't calling the cops because he was misbehaving, they were calling them to get the child some help. Have you ever known anyone with severe emotional issues? Guess what- they were six year olds once. And I have worked in both charter and public schools, and I've seen this happen in both places.

While I was an assistant teacher at my local public school, an ADHD student tried to nip at my ankles...

I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

sllllurrrrppppppp..

Teachers aren't supposed to be parents to EVERY damn kid in the room. Nowadays it seems parents expect a teacher to be all of that and more. Jesus christ, I feel bad for what they have to put up with. And the compenstation is dreadful.

I'm wondering if schools in wealthier areas have more support to deal with these issues. I think children across the board can act out, but how the schools decide to handle it probably differ.

That's true, b. And that's not prejudice or racism... the truth cannot be racist. The reality of which schools these things happen is what it is.

white 6 year old in the upper west side?

yeah, they'd still call the police if the child was becoming out of hand

it just doesn't happen as often in the UWS with respect to some other areas

Recharger - amen to that. All of it.

Mark - the lily-white UWS school would be far better-equipped to deal with a kid throwing a tantrum. They don't need the police.

I work at an elementary school in the Bronx. We have had to call the police to take several children for psychiatric evaluations at hospitals after "tantrums" where the child has kicked and hit students, teachers, or administrators. This is the DOE's policy as even 6 year olds can become very dangerous when kicking (one eight year old kicked a principal down the stairs during a tantrum) It may seem harsh, but it is simply a way of guaranteeing everyone's safety. No one likes to call the police (and believe me we do feel broken hearted about it) but it has to be done in extreme cases.

The number one problem--bar none--for public school teachers is student behavior. Everything else--salaries, academics, UFT contract--takes a back seat to behavior. If you have spent one minute in a school with a critical mass of troubled kids (I estimate that to be four or more per classroom), the you would have an inkling of why the cops were called. I'm not saying it couldn't have been handled differently, but if a kid is acting nuts--throwing object at you or other students, for example, or peventing any lesson from taking place for weeks on end--then maybe the cops should be called. Also, special ed law--while a good thing in many respects--pushes schools to take legal action they might prefer to avoid.

That is why calling some schools "good" and others "bad" based on reading scores is so absurd. Example: Stuyvesant recruits the best (academically-speaking) kids in the city. That doesn't mean the school or the teachers are better than other schools and teacher. It just means the kids are way more prepared for spending hours in a classroom, tolerating the drone of subjects that mostly have no bearing on their lives (except the subjects force them to spend their precious lives in classrooms).

As for the the reader who blames the parents. Listen, honey, discipline doesn't solve all problems. Some parents (whom I know intimately) have a child who's an angel, and one who's a devil. That's not bad parenting, that's genetics.

question: do you think the cops would be called on a white 6 year old in the upper west side who throws a tantrum? answer: hell no. more important question.. why?

what do you do if the child becomes violent?

physically restrain him?...no way, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen

call the cops?...based on the news story above, it might also be a bad idea

damn'd if you do, damn'd if don't

Anonymass et al. - I can pretty much guarantee you that it's difficult to reach many parents during the day. Why should a school have to wait around for a parent to show up? What if the parent refuses to come in and get his or her child?

Having somebody arrested is just a way of throwing up your hands and saying you don't want to deal with bodily controlling the person. I don't see the decision to have a child arrested when you've got a schoolful of children that insane. As the article pointed out: "The school principal, Franca Conti, allegedly told a school security guard to either watch Jonathan all day or call police." Why should a security guard's attention be on one kid all day when there's probably hundreds of other kids he's responsible for?

Aw this sucks. Didn't everyone have one of these hyperactive freaks in his or her class? Eventually, they'd be treated or just settle down. Now a teacher has to call the cops because she can't restrain the hellion for fear of a lawsuit. Now the kid's got a record, lawsuits are on the way, everything's gone to hell. Beautiful! Speaking from experience, kids are irrational and sometimes violent freaks. Freaks(!), with no sense of consequences or reason. Cops are not the answer here. Intervention and counseling are.

Simple solution:

Call the parent immediately with the admonition that "this kid is henceforth suspended and will be indefinitely until his behavior improves."

Put the onus back on the parent. Let's see if his mother wants to put up with him for 6-7 straight hours every day.

If I were that principal I would be calling social services to investigate whether his mother is fit to be a parent. Not so fun to have your decisions questioned when it comes to disciplining (or not) a child - give her a taste of her own medicine. The kid obviously needs meds and his mother is apparently depriving him of them.

ADHD was created by the teachers unions and drug companies. The teachers unions love it because the crap lessons they teach get the full attention of the drugged up kids leading to less actual work for them. The drug companies love it because they get oodles of cash.

The real loosers are everyone else - druged up kids shitty schools.

In this case the teachers were not doing their jobs. If they can't control a classroom of little kids go get another job.

where was the social worker? does the school have any arrangement with a local mental health clinic for referrals for evaluation and treatment? what has this kiddo's behavior been like before? i reckon there was some pattern that was allowed to degrade until this had to happen. the DOE blows. charter schools for everyone!

Right on, Cortez.

ADHD is hokum. The problem is that discipline is dead.

Should have used a Taser on the little bastard, and then again on the whiney Mom.