Girl Handcuffed and Arrested For Writing on Desk
Twelve-year-old Alexa Gonzalez , a NYC junior high student, was arrested and taken in handcuffs to a police station for writing on her desk with an erasable marker.
Gonzalez wrote “Lex was here 2/1/10″ and “I love my friends Abby and Faith.”
The girl was released after being held for several hours at the police station.
Gonzalez must perform eight hours of community service, as well as writing a book report and an essay on what she’s learned from the experience.
While I don’t endorse writing on desks and damaging public property, handcuffing and arresting a child for this is extreme and inexcusable.
Other New York City Student arrests:
2007 – Chelsea Fraser, 13, arrested for writing on her desk
2008 – Dennis Rivera, 5, handcuffed and sent to a psych ward after throwing a fit in his kindergarten class
2009 – 12-year-old sixth-grader arrested for doodling on her desk
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I never saw anything about “flinging scissors” in Daniel Rivera’s (the 5-year-old) case. Two of my three children had temper tantrums until they were 6, however I never resorted to handcuffing them and carting them off for a psychological evaluation. The babysitter, who routinely picked up Daniel at the school, arrived to find the boy calm and with his arms handcuffed behind him. The school refused to release the boy to her, but rather had him taken to a facility and had a psychological evaluation performed, without the mother’s permission. To me that is as distressing as the handcuffing.
Since 1998, the NYPD has assigned more than 5,000 school safety agents and at least 200 armed police officers to NYC public schools. Reports claim that school safety agents often abuse their authority, act belligerently and disrespectfully, and provoke students into confrontations.
NYCLU’s Criminalizing the Classroom (PDF)
The NYPD has received more than 2,700 complaints since 2002 about police abuse in schools. Dennis Rivera’s mother is suing for $15 million in damages. Alexa Gonzalez and her mother are suing for $1 million.
I agree that teachers have very few options since corporal punishment has been banned. I’m not sure there is a solution to this problem the way schools are restricted in their actions now. If schools were not controlled by the government, but by private organizations or local parent groups, they could set their own disciplinary measures that everyone in the school would agree to.
The one thing this article, like all the others, is the fact that these kids become unhinged, causing the educators no choice but to call the police since the child is a danger to the teachers, the students, and themselves. Even the five year old as mentioned could not be constrained. They HAD TO handcuff him, though he was five. Were they to just stand there and allow him to continnously fling scissors around? I think not. Teachers are not allowed to even touch the student, thus feeling the need to call the cops when the child’s behavior is threatening. But no article will admit that. I don’t feel sorry for her one bit. She obviously was not abused as she looked very normal in the videos. If anything, her mother looks rather smug. I think this is frivelous law suiting at its finest my friends. Our hard earned tax dollars at work so taxes can rise just a little bit more, budget cuts increase, and teachers do not get the raises they deserve. She did the crime, now pay the price! This mother isn’t teaching her anything good. It’s always sue sue sue SUE! Ugh!