Handcuffed Student Throwing Up After Trauma Of Arrest

Desk doodler Alexa Gonzalez (WCBS 2)

The mother of Alexa Gonzalez, the Queens public school student arrested after being caught doodling on her desk, tells the Daily News that the principal is unapologetic about how the 12-year-old was treated. According to Moraima Camacho, Junior High School 190 principal Marilyn Grant said "that it wasn't their fault that it was something they had to do. She doesn't consider it doodling."

When her teacher saw her doodling/defacement of school property with a lime green magic marker, an assistant principal called the cops and Gonzalez was hauled away in metal handcuffs (and not plastic handcuffs that authorities use on adult protesters!) to the police precinct across the street. Camacho told WCBS 2, "As soon as I saw her take off the handcuffs I said, 'No, what are you …' and (the officer) was like, 'sorry, this is the procedure. We have to do this.'... My daughter was humiliated! Humiliated!" Plus, Gonzalez is reportedly throwing up after the trauma.

The Department of Education admitted that Grant made a mistake and said Gonzalez's suspension would be lifted (the student still faces 8 hours of community service, a book report and an essay) and the NYPD agreed handcuffing the girl was going a little too far. The NYCLU's executive director Donna Lieberman said "This should be a wakeup call to the mayor" (the group has already sued the city for excessive arrests of students). Still, Camacho was worried that the incident means her daughter will have a permanent police record, but "an NYPD spokesman told CBS 2 HD no files are being maintained on the 12-year-old. "

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on February 6, 2010 11:17 AM

Comments [rss]

ilovejapgirls

dang she's hawt, when is she legal?

NannyState

After 11pm.

Wza

She's obviously that notorious bomber, Miss 12.

Book her!

rbeshenk

She's way cuter than Miss 17... and not just cuz she's 12.

She's def gonna be a writer tho.

NannyState

Isn't there a piece of software that can replace a school principal? What do they do besides this shit? Schedule teachers' breaks?

Mel B.

Meh... this is way stupid. When i was in high school (1999) people who got caught drawing and doodling on desks got a talk with the dean with no suspensions, no crazy punishments, and guess what- they aren't criminals today.

seaanemoneman

Can't have an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim without throwing up, or at least that's what they taught us in torts.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

i used to doodle in pencils "crib notes" on my desk. LOL.

ANGRYGOD11

Since NYPD has caught every major criminal, solved every crime, eliminated The Mob, locked up every gang member and made NY as safe as Japan, they really have nothing better to do than to lockup a 12-year-old girl.

cuesy

I say we stab her, then we hang her, then we tattoo her, and THEN we kill her!

S.D.

Great week for school principals...

Georgina

The girl is twelve? That photo makes her look 25!

MrCholly

Had she not defaced school property this would've never happened. Think about it.

dr zippy

the student still faces 8 hours of community service, a book report and an essay

Note to adults who apparently were never children: Don't punish a child by making them write an essay on how much they regret committing a minor offense. Kids aren't that dumb. They know you're just assigning busywork and will resent you wasting their time by writing exactly what you want to hear rather than show any real remorse or understanding.

dr zippy

True, but the point is that being handcuffed and led to a police station is an excessive response to a child doodling on a desk and a complete waste of NYPD resources at a time when the city's budget is stressed. Is that too hard to figure out?

AJ

Obviously this entire situation is ridiculous. But besides being a traumatic episode for the girl and her family, it was such a huge waste of resources. Please catch the real criminals and send the kids to art class.

whyyyy

when i was in 3rd grade i was caught idly doodling on my desk. my teacher yelled at me and made me scrub it off in front of the whole class. it was humiliating and i never did it again.

i don't know what the hell you other idiot commenters are going on about with "this is how you respond to delinquency!" doodling? hello? time and again i can't believe this is what the voter contingency consists of.

evbo

+1. This is not "delinquency." This is a 12 year old behaving like a 12 year old. Fucking principal should have her ass fired & never be allowed near a school again.

whyyyy

right?!

gawkthis

fire the principal; install Teflon coated desks; get the kid some klonopin and a shrink. time to move on.

ides_of_march

The doodling might distract teachers from their diddling. Can't have that.

PS39Grad

Of course she is throwing up. When she sues the city, she'll need to claim a physical manifestation of stress to prove pain and suffering.

Kelles

they'll probably be doing the news shows rounds or FOX 5 Monday morning

Thinky Think

This is only being sensationalized because her mom is a news anchor. News anchor kids must abide by the rules too.

Thinky Think

Good job! That should discourage anymore delinquent behaviours she has in mind.

This is the age to let students understand they are responsible for their actions.

roe

And there's a way to do that in an appropriate fashion. For instance, they could have given this girl detention, made her clean all the desks in the room, fined her to pay for the cleaning supplies or replacement of the desk, etc. It's customary that the punishment fits the crime.

Taking a 12 year old to the precinct in cuffs for doodling on her desk isn't going to teach her anything except the very important lessons that her school administrators are bullies with no common sense, and the cops are out to get her.