Posted on 04/26/2005 5:02:47 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
ST. PETERSBURG - The mother of the 5-year-old girl who was handcuffed at school by police has withdrawn her daughter from Pinellas public schools and is moving out of state, superintendent Clayton Wilcox said Monday night.
The development was the latest in a bizarre saga that began Friday, when a videotape of the handcuffing was made public.
Since then, wrenching video images of the wailing kindergartener being handcuffed by St. Petersburg police have raced around the globe, airing and re-airing on television news shows in the United States, Great Britain, Spain, around Asia and beyond.
On Monday morning, the Largo lawyer representing the girl's mother appeared on five network news shows. He returned wearily to his office to find a fax from the mother, 24-year-old Inga Akins, stating he had been fired. The fax had been sent from the tabloid TV show A Current Affair, on which the mother appeared Friday and Monday.
Also on Monday came the prospect that the Rev. Al Sharpton would be coming to town. The famous New York crusader and one-time presidential candidate is intrigued and considering weighing in on the episode, his staff said.
"Instantly he felt that it smelled bad, but he wants to research it first," said his spokeswoman Rachel Nordlinger. "It could be a case of police brutality or a case of her civil rights being violated."
Wilcox had no further information on Akins' move to pull the girl out of school. She was handcuffed at Fairmount Park Elementary on March 14 and transferred to another public school after the incident.
Wilcox said he found out about her leaving the system when he asked his staff Monday how she was doing in the new school.
A call to Akins' cell phone went unreturned Monday night.
Pinellas County records show that a St. Petersburg apartment complex where she lived moved to evict her on March 31, about two weeks after the handcuffing that put her daughter's face on TV screens across he world.
Wilcox said the girl had been out of school since Thursday.
John Trevena, who had been serving as the attorney for Akins, said he learned from an executive producer at A Current Affair that the girl and her mother traveled to New York City over the weekend, where they stayed at the show's expense.
The case of the handcuffed little girl was the top story on the tabloid program Monday night, with images of the girl smelling a flower and running through a park laughing.
The show interviewed a child psychologist who said the handcuffing might be racially motivated. A Current Affair also said the girl "had to flee her home to escape the media."
The show blamed Trevena's release of the video to major media outlets last week, including the St. Petersburg Times . The lawyer said a producer from the show "raged" at him last Friday, saying the release of the video violated an exclusive agreement between Akins and A Current Affair.
Trevena said he had been unaware of any agreement.
The show made no mention of its part in the media frenzy that has followed the video.
A Current Affair clearly communicated it had every intention of running the videotape, Trevena said. He also said the show interviewed Akins and her daughter only days after the handcuffing incident.
On Friday, a few hours after the video began screaming across the world, the show announced to the media that it had an exclusive.
It sent out a news release titled: "Five-year-old African American girl handcuffed by three police officers. A Current Affair gets first national look at incident on tape."
The program Monday evening did not disclose on air how much it had paid Akins for the story. When asked what the sum was Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the show laughed at the question. She said there would be no comment on the story.
Trevena called the program's actions "highly unethical and possibly illegal." He said he was concerned that his client was in New York discussing the case with another party without legal advice.
The videotape shows the girl defying an assistant principal and another school staff member as she tore items off walls and swung at the educators.
Later, it shows the girl in the assistant principal's office tearing items off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and swinging at the assistant principal numerous times.
The video ends after about 28 minutes with the girl crying as three St. Petersburg police officers place her in handcuffs.
The girl had a history of problems at the school, though the full extent is not known because student records are not public.
District officials have discussed an incident several weeks before the handcuffing in which a city police officer was called to the school because of a behavior problem with the girl. The officer said something to her about the possibility of being handcuffed if her behavior continued.
Akins later objected to that conversation, part of an ongoing feud with the school over her daughter's treatment.
District officials say the video started as an exercise by the girl's teacher to improve her craft in the classroom. But they acknowledge that the girl's history may have played a part in the decision to keep the camera rolling that day.
Though city police are being harshly criticized for their role in the incident, the department declined Wednesday to elaborate on the rationale for the handcuffing, citing a pending investigation.
Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said the department stood by a statement made in mid March, which was that department policy allows the handcuffing of minors in certain situations.
How did an incident that received mild attention in March blossom into a worldwide phenomenon five weeks later?
The video, said Matthew Felling, media director at The Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.
"It's not necessarily about the little girl, it's about the visceral nature of it," he said. "Is it compelling? Yes. Is it emotional porn? Yes. Is it internationally relevant news? No."
He said too many media outlets had been airing only part of the video, which is about 28 minutes long.
"This story is driven by 10 seconds of footage - two seconds of the tantrum and eight seconds of handcuffing," he said. "Completely taken out of context, but that is the media's way."
The teacher did everything that she had in her power. She told the child that her behavior was unacceptable and how the behavior affected the teacher. She never told the child that she was "bad" or made idle threats. She used her body as a blocker to prevent further unsafe actions. She never placed her hands on the child except to protect herself or the child. Yes, the repeated "that is unacceptable" is annoying to us to listen to, but what other weapons are in her arsenal? Absolutely none. Was it effective with this child? Nope, not at all.
This is where schools are now. The teachers have no power or respect. The last line of defense are the policemen who are forced by the situation to perform the distasteful task of handcuffing a 5 year old.
But think about some of the disrespect things that are said even here at Freeperville about teachers. If the parents on this site repeat some of the same things at home that they say here, those words also go to tear down what little respect we teachers have, even with the "good" kids.
The future is not good for teachers. What will probably happen in the next few years is that more and more of us will drop out of the system and the replacements will be harder and harder to find. The law of supply and demand then indicates that salaries will rise in accordance until the market evens out.
Here's a question for the crowd--how much would it cost for YOU to be the teacher in that classroom? That woman is probably earning about $22-25 an hour(before taxes).(Assuming $35k -40k a year, 196 day contract, 8 hour day) I wouldn't do her job for three times that.
Of course it does - success or failure depends on the person, not on their name. I believe you are saying, a child with an ethnic name is saddled with poor parenting and thus will fail. That is an indefensible position.
come on guys, micheal jackson uses handcuffes on kids all the time
Well, even if that's what it was, there was no need to cuff her when they did. If they had done it earlier, when she was being destructive, I would have supported it. But as I say, once she was calm and sitting quietly -- for whatever reason -- they should not have cuffed her then.
I agree, these "parents" who give their children names from the afro-sounding but nobody on the continent has that name, or naming their kids after animals or natural phenomena should be arrested for abuse.
A little off-topic on my part, perhaps, but this comment of yours brought something to mind. One of my daughters has been invited to speak at management meetings around the state of New York on behalf of her company. Her topic? What to do about the younger employees who seem to come to work with a sense of entitlement. They can be late if they want. They feel they can leave early if they want. They can take a day off with no advance notice. Why do you think young people feel no sense of duty, responsibility and obligation these days? In all my years of working, I called in sick once.
Of course, that's probably out the window at this point too, considering the circumstances. No doubt mom told her the police couldn't touch her either.
From this article, interview of the mom -
The 31-year-old single mother of three said she is consulting an attorney. Akins, whose last name is different from her daughter's, blamed the assistant principal, Nicole Ross Dibenedetto. She accused Dibenedetto of harping on the girl to the point where she "acted up" in class. "Ever since I told her to stay away from my daughter, there's been problems."
- snip -
As she spoke, her three children rambled through the apartment. The girl, the oldest child, rode a pink bicycle through the living room, one of the training wheels missing. Her brother got up on a table and swatted a light fixture, laughing.
Oy.
TV shows are full of respected professionals with these sorts of names. Who will use a financial advisor named Ja'mequah or Seagull?
I just watched the videos. Damn straight, she should have been paddled. A long time ago.
Given your perspective, maybe you can help me understand a situation that's bothered me for about ten years, dating from when my two oldest sons were in a DODDS (Department of Defense Dependents Schools) high school overseas. My experience in the military was that race generally was not an issue in how people got along. Everybody did their job and pulled together, respecting the rank and each person regardless of race.
But the DODDS high school was different. There was a hard core group of black male students who liked to dress gangbang style (many of them athletes) who frequently terrorized the other students. Just one minor example: it was a "given" that during lunch period they would stroll into the cafeteria, shove other kids (male and female) aside, snickering and hand-signalling, and take their place at the front of the line. Teachers and staff would watch quietly and say nothing.
Such behavior bothered my sons, but they never pushed it to a confrontation. There was a black teacher on staff, a Vietnam vet, who took a strong liking to both of my red-headed sons and named them his top students two years running. My sons liked and respected him too, and they had black friends as well.
My question is: how does one explain the aggressive gangbanger bullying of other students and why are school administrations apparently so reluctant to deal with it? I can't believe it only happened at this one school.
I suspect there is a cultural attitude at the root of it, and that it traces to the black victim mentality that white liberals especially have worked hard to nurture and inculcate among blacks. I see a similar attitude at work here among the Sharptons of the world who want to exploit this little girl's case for political gain. Am I off base here?
You make no argument... She shouldn't have been handcuffed.
#159..LOL, oh yeah, Gwynneth Paltrow....of Hollywood LaLaLand....no surprise there.
I just saw the videos too.
What a rotten, mean little BRAT!
Her mama needs the whoopin' more than her. That lil' one didn't just happen, someone LET her happen.
Good morning.
"What is with all the video cameras in the school?"
See the last line in post #74.
Michael
Seems to me the reason she was cuffed was because the police had told her during a previous incident that they would do just that if called again. To not follow through would have been a mistake, imo.
If I tell my 4 year old son, who can assert himself like the best of them, that I'll do something if...and then I don't, I imagine his respect for my authority would suffer a bit.
Yep... It it time for the "Name Police"... That will solve all of the world's problem... You know, I've never seen a John act out... or a Michael act out... No they have proper names... Next, up we'll introduce you to the new food pyramid courtesy of the the "Food Police."
Sarcasm off...
I also have been around children for years. I have four of my own and I have five grandchildren. I also worked with our local schools for years. One of my grandsons is a "square peg," so-to-speak. His teacher told my daughter he needed to be on medication. This child does NOT need to be on medication. He is not angry or violent. He is simply a little more active and needs a little more individual attention. On the other hand, I have an acquaintance whose daughter was completely whacked out and who left her son with her mother. The child at 6 years old was violent. He threw things and he hit his grandmother so hard that he broke her arm. That child needed to be on medication. Too many kids are medicated these days. Most for the wrong reasons.
...success or failure depends on the person, not on their name. I believe you are saying, a child with an ethnic name is saddled with poor parenting and thus will fail. That is an indefensible position.
I am not saying exactly what you said I was saying. I am only saying that these names add an extra burden. Many children will overcome it, but some will not. I am not saying that all parents who give their children names like Anfernee and Chiloquethia are poor parents, or that these children will fail. I am saying that the names are obstacles, and ones that, I hope, will be overcome. If you think that little Adolph will be treated the same as little Brian, who are otherwise equal, we do disagree on that. But that's ok.....
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