Police arrested an 8-year-old at school. His wrists were too

The school -to-prison pipeline is still alive and well in Red State conservative paradise

What happened to doli incapax?

And having his prints and DNA in databases may cause him to be excluded from many jobs. Even if he was never convicted, many security checks will show that data exists and 'red flag' him.

I think the problem here isn't whether the handcuff fit or not but, why are there so many children being arrested in the first place.

These numbers are very disconcerting not only for the children being arrested but for society. This arrest is a testament to the lack of parental control (either because of gov't interference or indifference), lack of control in the school system (because of gov't control) and maybe even more importantly might be that fact that it's become the norm to put children with developmental and mental health issues into the mainstream classrooms where their interactions with other children are anything but peaceful and well integrated.

Although arresting them for the failings of others isn't the answer. I'm sorry but, money has to be put towards these kids mental health issues and without that, the numbers are going to continue to climb because we're seeing more and more instances like this. But, what should be even more terrifying than the arrest of a child is that these violent kids are likely going to be able to access weapons at some point in the future which makes them, to put it mildly a ticking time bomb.

So you reap what you sow and if you fail to deal with this problem at it's root you'll pay considerably more for that failing at some point in the future.

Lock him up for life. :evil:

The problem is that Americans have been conditioned to call the police their entire lives. Fast food order taking to long? Call the police! Someone's tee shirt or bumper sticker offends you? Call the police! The government wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. They want total control. They want to call all the shots. Look what happens to people who attempt to solve their problems by themselves. They get arrested, and sued. Violent thugs can break down the gates and trespass in your private neighborhood. They can come on your private property and damage it. They can loot and steal. If you go outside your house with a firearm, YOU get a court date. YOU get to spend thousands in legal bills and possibly go to prison. See some known criminal POS breaking into your neighbors house? Better not get involved! YOU will be the one with a court date. YOU will be the one losing your job.

What recourse does this teacher have? Some disrespectful little asshole curses her out and hits her with a closed fist. Should she have to put up with that crap? NO she shouldn't! What are her options? If she so much as looks at the kid wrong, she will be fired and lose her teaching license. What can anyone in the school do? If they lay one finger on the kid, they get a court date. They lose their profession. The school gets sued, the little asshole's trashy parents get rich. Yada yada yada.

We have made our society where the least educated among us gets to call all the shots in every situation. They get to decide who gets beat, tazed, maced, shot, killed, arrested, and prosecuted. When they show up on the scene, they are in TOTAL control. They are THE MAN!!! Just like their glory days when they were on the high school football team. They don't want any input from us pesky civilians either. You could try to point out that you are the one that called them and that they are arresting the wrong person. Pointing out that little fact that the real perp is getting away while they needlessly harass the wrong person could get you beat and arrested for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, probably assault on an officer as well.

If you handle anything yourself, you are fucked bigtime. If you call the cops you had better just stand back and let them do whatever it is that they want to do lest you get tangled up in it as well. There is no middle ground. There are no other options. That is the reality of life in the U.S. today.

I agree with some of the points raised by FOG and rick but I don’t think the problem is “government” in and of itself nor is it with lack of streaming.

It’s true that the US is a much more litigious society and that might partly explain it. But they are also much more obsessed with criminal punishment as a solution to non-conforming behaviour than most other places. School staff should be able to handle an 8- yr old having a tantrum without calling the police, even if the kid kicks a teacher. We’re talking about a tiny kid here and an alleged simple kick. Let’s not pretend the kid is the Hulk and rag-dolling teachers left and right.

Secondly even if cops are called, the fact that it results in criminal charges -felony charges no less- is an abomination. Again the American obsession with crime and punishment means almost any act can be upgraded to a felony and all the incentives for cops, prosecutors and judges in the US encourage them to do exactly that.

There are exactly ZERO children under the age of 12 arrested and criminally charged in Canada. It is simply not legal under the criminal code and youth criminal justice act as children that young aren’t mentally capable of forming criminal intent or fully understanding the consequences of their actions. I see some recent statistics that say even children age 12 and 13 combined are only 8% of Canadian juvenile offenders.

In Canada the police are not called because a young child is having a temper tantrum at school. Maybe in very extreme circumstances such as a real threat to safety like the kid is wielding a knife or something which is very rare, but even then if the child is under 12 after securing the scene the authorities only ensure the kid is dealt with through some combination of parents, child services, and/or the mental health system as needed.

Classroom integration is not the problem either. Children who are a danger to themselves or others are already segregated from other kids and usually at special institutions of one type or another. However most children with behavioural disorders are not inherently dangerous or ticking time bombs, even if they sometimes have tantrums during which they allegedly kick a teacher.

Does anyone really believe these 300,000 kids under age 12 arrested and charged will be anything but permanently scarred by the experience? They’re not going to turn into flag--waiving patriots who believe in America and that they got what they deserved at age 8. America’s “school-to-prison pipeline” has been written about extensively for a long time. Situations like this only train kids to be anti-social criminals.