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The elementary school where the student was restrained
KWTX
Belton Indepedent School District Superintendent Dr. Susan Kincannon apologized to an 8-year-old student and his family after the young boy was handcuffed during an attempt to restrain him after he had a tantrum as a reaction from medication for his ADHD, KWTX reports.
“While we are continuing to investigate this incident, I want to apologize to the student and the student’s family. It is not our practice to call the police for unruly elementary students,” the superintendent said in a statement.
According to KWTX, the incident all started when the child was reprimanded for making fun of students at lunch and was told to move to another table. The child then started to shove trays and throw chairs. The child was taken to the school’s office and told to calm down, but started to sceram, hit, kick and throw more items such as books and chairs.
The news station notes that a school notice says that a parent was contacted as the child remained inconsolable.
“Teachers were having a very difficult time controlling a second grade student who was later determined to be experiencing an emotional crisis,” officer Shawana Neely said in a press release Tuesday night, according to the report. The officer’s attempt to subdue the child was also unsucccessful, and so the decision was reportedly made to handcuff him.
“The student continued to respond in a manner that placed himself and others at risk of possible injury. In an effort to prevent the student from injuring himself or others he was placed in restraints,” Neely added.. However, at 4-foot-2 and weighing all of 54 pounds, the restraints did no good, so the officer “maintained control of the student until a parent arrived.”
“While it is not our standard practice to place a student in restraints, the officer felt it necessary in order to prevent the possibility of injury to the student and staff,” Neely said.
“ADHD is a mental illness,” the boy’s mother told the news station. “How are you going to add now this trauma on top of an already existing mental illness is beyond me.”
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