Tag Archives: handcuffs

Handcuff Lawsuit Secures a Settlement

Cuffs are costly

Following an October 2015 incident concerning a seven-year-old child being placed in handcuffs at school, the parties involved have recently agreed to settle for $40,000. Half will be paid by the city of Flint, Michigan, and the other will be paid by the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce.  The mother of the young boy, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, filed the lawsuit in 2018.  The police were called after the child kicked an object and ran on bleachers while participating in an after-school activity.  In order to calm the child, a resource officer handcuffed his hands behind his back for almost an hour.  The apparent reason for the prolonged detainment was that the officer was not able to locate a key to unlock the handcuffs. Continue reading →

Handcuffs No Longer an Acceptable Punishment for Misbehavior in Mississippi Schools

The right to remain silent

One day in fourth grade, a kid in my class was misbehaving so atrociously that the teacher, in an act of desperation, enclosed him in a cardboard box on the ground for the rest of the afternoon.  At the time, it was hilarious, and it became a sort of mythical story that he and everyone else would tell well into high school and beyond.  You know, one of those jokes or memories that come up at a reunion.  Thinking about it, it was probably not the best way to treat a child, but he was being downright unruly.  I can understand that sometimes teachers just become so exasperated that they decide to break rules/morality to restore some order.  Not so in Mississippi, where, in a certain school district, it was all but encouraged to simply incapacitate out-of-line students as a first resort.

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