[Skooz]

IMO, local television news is the ultimate in hype, sensationalism and distortion of facts in order to increase ratings.

This is November--"sweeps" month.

Good point. Your opinion of local TV news is absolutely correct. That could be the case here, but handcuffing a child seems a little extreme.

But, then we have to parse the words--we must define "handcuffing," etc. and see if the TV news hacks are using the definitions the same way most of us would or are using "shock words" (what Dylan Thomas called "chopped and chisled evocative shock phrases") to drive up ratings.

All to often I have fallen for the teaser only to sit through the commercial break and say "Oh, THAT'S all it is....."

[Illbay]

I can't possibly condone handcuffing ON THE FACE OF IT. I'm simply saying that we're getting HER side of the story, and a guarded response from the school district (which doesn't necessarily indicate wrongdoing; the schools unfortunately HAVE to be guarded because anything they say can and will be used against them by a slime-bag of a lawyer in front of a witless jury that "feels her pain.")