A 7-year-old boy was put in handcuffs and led away from school in Miami on Thursday, and school officials say this is the second time he’s been restrained.
The incident reportedly began with a teacher telling the student to stop playing with his food in the cafeteria. The boy refused, until finally teachers had to remove him from the room. According to an incident report by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools police officer, Munick Soriano, obtained by the Associated Press, the student began punching his teacher in the back as soon as they left the room.
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The report claims that the student continually punched and kicked his teacher until they both fell to the ground. He also allegedly grabbed her hair.
School officials say he met their standard criteria for students who are a danger to themselves and others according to the Florida Mental Health Act, so he was taken to Miami Children’s Hospital.
Later, officers said it was the second time they’ve resorted to handcuffing this particular student, which they’re allowed to do under the law.
Yet the boy‘s mother, Mercy Alvarez, takes issue with what she calls “police abuse.” She has posted videos and photos of her son in cuffs all over social media, asking how it is ever appropriate to treat a 7-year-old child like a criminal.
“This is too much for a boy that age to go through,” she said. “It can’t be normal procedure.”
“If my child wasn’t aggressive anymore when we got there, like they were saying he was before, why take such extreme measures?” she asked.
According to Soriano’s report, the incident was captured on the schools surveillance cameras. The boy’s parents came to the school as soon as they heard what had happened, where officials strongly recommended that the child be taken to a mental health facility. His father reportedly agreed, but his mother felt that he was being treated unfairly.
According to the Baker Act, police and some other officials are allowed to have students institutionalized with or without their consent for psychological evaluation in Florida. The school’s district police chief, Ian Moffett, admitted that it is “rare for students this young to be Baker Acted” in a statement following the incident.
“However this action was warranted to prevent his erratic and violent behavior from bringing further harm to others or himself,” he continued.
The district‘s Professional Compliance Unit is launching a full investigation into both sides of the issue.
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