Posted on 02/15/2009 10:30:02 PM PST by vivalaoink
LARGO — Police this week removed an unruly 7-year-old from his classroom and forced him to be hospitalized under the state's Baker Act — against the wishes of his outraged parents.
The boy spent the night alone at Morton Plant Hospital before he was seen by a child psychologist the next day and discharged.
"This is a total abuse of police power," said the boy's father, Richard Smith, 41. "My son has no mental health problems. He's never hurt himself. He's never hurt anyone else."
Smith and his wife, Barbara, said they want to consult a lawyer.
But Largo deputy police Chief John Carroll said his officers did the right thing.."
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
“In the old days, the principal kept a paddle in his office if the teacher couldn’t handle it in the classroom.”
And I suspect that this kid’s parents would be the first to sue...........
Exactly. I was a foster mom for a time. It has to be something pretty extreme for a child to Baker Acted.
That may well be true, however I still see parents who actually discipline their children in public and have never seen anything like that, and in fact have never heard one personal account (except for yours) of this happening.
another reason not to raise a kid in florida...
State of Washington. Home of “Political Correctness” personified.
I’m sure it’s happened. I don’t for one second think it’s the reason parents are raising out of control kids. There’s something else going on.
We later discovered the reason for the rage: his mother, my sister, had molested him for years, and let her shack-up studs physically abuse him. Poor kid!
I’ve had custody, now, for eight years. He has been going through thereapy and has been home schooled. It will be tough going, but he’ll make it. It was not his fault, and I remind him of that every day, particularly that he is a good person. The bad people only win if they make him cruel like them. He’s one of the good guys.
I remember that.
My principal had to paddle two teachers, before the rest got the message to discipline unruly brats and maintain classroom control themselves; and only to bother him with serious problems.
I sat there ten years ago and witnessed my seven-year old launch into a “fit”. He literally tore up his entire room and screaming loud enough for the neighbors to think something was wrong, naturally calling the cops to my house. The cops got there fifteen minutes later and found my son in his room...tearing up the entire place. Shocked to seeing the cops standing there....he suddenly stopped (my words up until that point did nothing to halt him). In about two minutes, he had completely calmed down. Even the cops were shocked at the damage done to the room. All of this....due to him refusing to do homework. Yep, that was the entire trigger to this fit. Even the cops stood there...trying to get him to explain how refusing to do homework equals tearing up a room.
I’m guessing this kid is of the same variety. The parents may not see him as a threat today...but in three months or a year...the kid will likely demonstrate his behavior at home and they will be standing there in shock.
Had that same thing happen here in Maine...
One teacher sued the principal....
The other married him.....*W*
I think out of control kids should be sent home, not sent to a psych ward.
Your plan doesn’t sound harsh at all. Lot’s of kids are getting out of control these days and getting away with it.
SPANK
There’s noting wrong with the boy that a little Ritalin wouldn’t cure.
Hopefully his parents will stop listening to Dr. Spock and now start to spank him.
<I’m sorry, but these kids are in charge. That is completely nuts.
Yup. My mother, who was definitely in control of us, used to say, “I’m neither your friend, nor your peer.” I hated hearing her say that.
Suffice it to say, many years later, I found myself saying the same thing to my son. I’m not your peer, I’m your parent. My job is to take a barbarian and civilize him (he’s a FReeper, so I guess it worked). You can’t do that when you’re trying to be friends with your child.
A 1X12 board with a handle on the end would solve it faster without doping the kid up.
Charter schools and vouchers need to be equally available for all, and taxation without representation needs to end.
Yeah, and get arrested for child abuse and have your kid taken away from you.
The liberals have a solution for everything.
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