The best intervention would be to take the child and hold her closely, keeping her arms and legs controlled with the adult's arms and hands. I've done this with my granddaughter who is 4 1/2. We call it a "holding time out." It's difficult to do. If either the teacher or the principal or the police officer had done it, there would also have been a huge outcry. The handcuffing was to protect the child as well as the adults involved. There were few choices. I do think that the three police officers could have surrounded her and talked with her for a while, deflecting her blows and limiting her range. After a while, she would have tired. It would have taken more time. Having said that, however, the knee jerk reaction of the mother and the media and now maybe the discrimination pimps, is much more abusive to this child than anything that the police did.
The best intervention would be to take the child and hold her closely, keeping her arms and legs controlled with the adult's arms and hands...
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Unfortunately, in this litigous society we live in, the parent still might have sued, claiming this technique caused some physical harm to the child. I kinda get the feeling the folks at the school were afraid to touch her in any way for fear of such a lawsuit.
If the mother had backed up the actions of the school and the cops, she would have learned an invaluable lession. Now all we'll hear about is how "the poor child has been traumatized for life."
If the "trauma" taught her that her behavior was completely unacceptable, the handcuffing could have changed the child's life for the good. I fear her mother won't allow that to happen.
Only one of my children ever had a temper tantrum. My mom had come for lunch and one of my twin daughters, who was two at the time, threw a tantrum, complete with rolling on the floor, flailing her arms and feet. I was in shock as she'd never done this before. I was also embarrassed that she was doing it while my mother was visiting. My mom very calmly said to me, "Ignore her." It was very hard to do. But that's exactly what we did. Within a few short minutes, my daughter's tantrum ended and she never had another one. Her tantrum had not gotten her the attention she thought it would and she knew it was pointless to ever bother trying it again.