6-year-old and 7-year-old Children at one Chicago school were handcuffed for hours while being threatened by a school security guard after they were removed from class for talking.
According to one Chicago mom’s account, school officials in March 2010 asked a security guard to discipline several children for talking in class, at which point they were escorted to an empty office and handcuffed. According to the Chicago Tribune the kids were then told:
“They were going to prison and would never see their parents again.”
The lawyer for one child involved in the incident says of the disciplinary approach:
“There appears to be no reason for an officer to isolate 6- and 7-year-old children, place them in handcuffs, and threaten them for hours during a school day, or any other day.”
The suit reveals that the Chicago Board of Education has completely ignored repeated complaints about the incident.
Under the lawsuit the family is asking for $100,000 in damages, claiming that their son, a victim of the discipline, has suffered “personal” and “permanent” injuries brought on by the trauma of the situation.
The Chicago Board of Education says they need to read the lawsuit and then investigate any claims made before they are willing to comment on any possible actions that will be taken against educators and the school’s security guard.
If the school is found guilty for handcuffing the children, what type of actions do you think should be taken against the school to ensure this type of discipline no longer happens in our public education system.
