A few days ago, I read a story about a 6~year~old girl in Georgia who was handcuffed by a police officer because she was throwing a temper tantrum in the principal’s office. You can read the full story by going here. Apparently, her tantrum included screaming, pulling items off the wall and knocking over a shelf and injuring the principal.
The article goes on to say attempts were made to calm the child before the police were called. Office personnel also tried to contact the girl’s parents, when those attempts failed, the police were called. The updated article also states that this child has run away from school several times and had other disciplinary issues. So from reading the story, I don’t see that the school administration did anything wrong.
Think about it, this child was throwing a violent tantrum that couldn’t be contained. She could have seriously injured herself or someone else, then the public would have been looking at the school all cross~eyed. This is a sign that this child already has anger management issues. And a problem with respect for authority.
At 6 years old, this girl is still young enough to learn to control her temper, which will serve her well as she gets older. Once she’s a teenager, her violent outbursts aren’t going to be quite so cute or harmless. One of the first lessons, we taught our children was to control their anger. Yes, they get mad and they get angry but they don’t slam doors, kick, hit or punch, nor have they ever yelled “I hate you.” Rage and/or violence is not the way to handle disappointment.
The parents need to teach their daughter how to focus her anger so that it doesn’t end with her in juvenile court when she’s in her teens.
The child wasn’t traumatized by the event. According to Acting Chief Swicord, the girl was taken to a meeting room while they waited for a family member to pick her up.
What do you think? Were the police out of line? How could the administration have handled this differently?
