Posted on 01/25/2008 5:28:47 AM PST by fweingart
A 5-year-old boy was handcuffed and hauled off to a psych ward for misbehaving in kindergarten - but the tot's parents say NYPD school safety agents are the ones who need their heads examined.
"He's 5 years old. He was scared to death," Dennis Rivera's mother, Jasmina Vasquez, told the Daily News. "You cannot imagine what it's done to him."
Dennis - who suffers from speech problems, asthma and attention deficit disorder - never went back to class at Public School 81 in Queens after the traumatic incident.
His mom and a school source said Dennis threw a tantrum inside the Ridgewood school at 11 a.m. on Jan. 17.
Dennis was taken to the principal's office, where he apparently knocked items off a desk.
Rather than calling the boy's parents, a school safety agent cuffed the boy's small hands behind his back using metal restraints, the school source said.
The agent and school officials then called an ambulance to take the tot to Elmhurst Hospital Center for a mental evaluation.
Vasquez was stunned when a guidance counselor called her at work to say her son was being taken to the psych ward.
Vasquez rushed to the school from her job as a patient representative at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. On the way, she called Dennis' baby-sitter, who was closer to PS 81, and asked her to hurry over to the school.
When baby-sitter Sandy Ortiz arrived, Dennis was still handcuffed, she said. School safety agents also were holding his elbows even though the boy was calm, Ortiz said. Dennis is about 4-feet-3 and weighs 68 pounds.
"I hugged him. I said, 'OK, release the cuffs, I'm taking him,'" she recalled. "They told me, 'No, Miss. You're not taking him anywhere.'"
Ortiz routinely picks up Dennis from class. She said she's never seen him behave in a way that would require him to be restrained.
"I was so upset. There's no reason to handcuff a baby of 5 years old, traumatize him that way," she said.
The handcuffs were removed before Dennis was walked out of the school and driven by ambulance to Elmhurst Hospital Center. He was evaluated at the hospital and released about four hours later, his mom said.
School sources said Dennis had punched an assistant principal the day before he acted out in class. The sources also said he broke glass in an office door a week earlier.
A spokeswoman for the city Education Department declined to comment on why school safety agents needed to handcuff Dennis, saying the incident was under investigation.
The NYPD, which oversees school safety agents, also declined to discuss specifics. Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said, "We hope common sense would prevail and we are looking at what happened."
Vasquez immediately withdrew Dennis from PS 81 and enrolled him in a private school, Grand Street Settlement.
"I asked him, 'Do you want to go back to that school?' He broke down in tears," Vasquez said. "He said, 'I don't want to go! I don't want to go!'"
You're right, but this was out of the teacher's hands at this point, I believe.
Of course, the same is true with the administration. However....
Ortiz routinely picks up Dennis from class.So there was already prior approval of this babysitter. If the conditions did not fit under the prior approval, then the child should have been held until the mother could arrive (she had left work and was on the way) to release the child to the parent.
There needs to be an explanation of a legitimate reason to transport the child to the psych ward rather than release the child to the parent. In cuffs, was he an immediate danger to himself or others? If so, how could they remove the cuffs for transport?
In loco parentis abuse, IMHO, but IANAL.
Ping!
The diagnostic criteria don't include normal behavior of a 5-year-old, as they say:
Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:and
Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:If the diagnosis was incorrectly applied, that's a different story. I believe that is common and is a big reason why real ADHD is misunderstood by the general public.
From the article: Vasquez was stunned when a guidance counselor called her at work to say her son was being taken to the psych ward.
Poorly written, however, the babysitter arrived before the ambulance did.
Yes, but the point is, they were taking the kid there regardless of the mother’s desire to custody returned to her. She was on her way, but they took the kid first and refused to release him to the babysitter.
It’s subjective and ABUSED entirely too much. I will not allow my children to be drugged into mindless drones.
Maybe I didn’t notice it anywhere....but is this kid on any meds?
I also think we’re only getting a snap shot at the end of a long story.
This is the end of January, school started in what, August? This may be just the last in a long string of events involving this child..... the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As for the hospital, they can actually be good for the kid...a bit of a respite and for those who need to have their story heard, a place to tell it. For those with problems that no one understands, a chance to get help.
Like you said, it can be very very complex and isn’t just a child ‘being bad.’ I don’t know, I just have a big soft spot for the kids, and I get a kick out of watching them eat.
The mother called the babysitter.
The police should have taken the child...TO HIS MOTHER, period!!
Good!! I agree, I do think ADHD is over Dx’d. And most true ADD/HD’ers will agree with you 100%.
You love your kids I bet. You give them lots of positive feedback, hugs and kisses, as well as appropriate discipline and structure. Your kids feel safe and know they have not one, but 2 adults who are on their side.
And if they were to truly develop something along these lines, a lot of what you’re already doing would go into place as part of the treatment. Drugs MAY be used yes, but only when behavior tx doesn’t work, and only when needed. Personally, I think they’re a lifesaver for some people.
Picking up a child after the school day has ended is different from taking a kid out of school on a school day.
was he an immediate danger to himself or others?
That's the question - and he has certainly exhibited behavior that meets that standard.
Moms are every bit as capable of giving kids the 'look' as dads are. Believe me, my mom certainly could.
The key element in making the 'look' work is that the kid needs to know to the bottom of his soul that you really mean it. Kids can see right through a wishy-washy 'look'.
We got back to the day care and told the owner what had happened. She didn’t believe how bad it was but she took him to the office anyway. He literally trashed the place. Threw everything off of her desk, tried to break the copy machine, fax machine and anything he could get his hands on. Mom’s response the next day was that he only does that around people he feels safe with and he must really like me. I almost blurted out whiskey, tango foxtrot.
And yes I was nervous that while restraining him I may have bruised him and would end up being sued. Oh, and both parents did live at home and dad was a rocket scientist.
On multiple occassions the story references 'parents' of the child.
I am amazed at all of exercise some people get from jumping to conclusions, especially when it meets there assumptive prejudices.
My five year old is either very sweet or very not. He is like a whirlwind when he gets mad. Ten years ago my husband worked in a special ed class and took restraint training. Some of the things he showed me are things I have been able to use on our children when they have gotten very out of control and I am not very big. No need for handcuffs.
True. At this point, I tend to agree with najida that there is a lot of information and history of this family that we don’t know.
They may not have needed kids sized handcuffs. Perhaps my memory is a little fuzzy from when my kids were little but 4-feet-3 and 68 pounds seems a tad on the big size for your average 5 year old.
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