It didn't take long for police to figure out the cause of the boy's behavior after he walked off from school.
In Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2020, one of the officers who brought the boy back to school said, "He's bad because no one's corrected it."
The officers asked the boy if he had ever been hit at home, and then told his mom to beat him.
I knew this case was much more than just one boy being bad when I first watched the video. I can see from the video that the boy is experiencing emotional and psychological distress before the officer speaks with him. His posture and voice are indicators that something is not right.
When school officials get involved, they don't take steps to address what is, to me, a child's mental health emergency. The way in which the police respond to school kids in crises is typified by this case. Black and Hispanic children are more likely to be arrested.
It would have been helpful to speak to the 5-year-old in a respectful and helpful way. The method called "engage, calm and distract" is used to respond to a child in distress. Yelling at and berating a child can cause long-term psychological damage.
The boy was referred to as a littlebeast, a violent little thing, and a fool by the officers.
I can see from the video that the boy's mother is distressed trying to help her son and not lose her job in the process of constantly having to go to the school for him. The suggestion to contact a local family agency to get crisis services and a behavioral health referral is justified for someone who is properly trained.
When she was contacted by phone to calm her son down, she overheard one of the officers asking, "What's going on at home?" After showing up at the school, she took her son's shirt off to show that she wasn't abusing him.
A male officer says on the video that they think it's the opposite.
The female officer said they wanted you to beat him.
The mother and her son were all black.
The mother said that school officials warned her that they are mandated by law to report child abuse, and that she had said that she would beat her son when they got home.
The mother was reassured by the police that she could hit her child. As a matter of fact, we applaud the fact that you will please beat your child, as shown in the video.
The officer put a cuff on the boy's wrist with his hands behind his back to show what would happen if he didn't control his behavior.
The boy was asked what the items were for. They are for people who don't know how to act.
It wasn't the mother's actions but the police officers that were questioned. A lawsuit was filed by the mother. The case was settled for US$225,000. $220,000 was ordered to be paid to the two officers who were seen in the video berating the boy, and $55,000 was ordered to be paid to the school system. The money will be put into a trust so the boy can access it when he's older.
It is hard to see how the case would have progressed without the video. It would have had to do with the recollection of a troubled 5-year-old boy.
There was a film. The encounter between the boy and the police officers was tense from the beginning.
The male officer asked the boy why he was out of school after he found him near a car. Do you think you are an adult?
He grabbed the child by the arm after he said, "Get back over there now!" The officer asked the child if he had been hurt and the child said he needed to go back to school. The boy cried and said, "No, no, no," to which the officer said, "Get in or we are going to have problems."
I think police and teachers will face similar legal actions if they don't figure out better ways to deal with children in crisis.
Police departments are required to make sure their officers wear body cameras. There will be encounters with children and families in crises.
Children with challenging behaviors can be difficult for adults to respond to.
A heavy-handed approach to dealing with a child in crisis is likely to be more effective than other evidence based approaches. Evidence-based approaches include assuring the child that he is safe, reassuring the child that he doesn't need to feel guilty or bad about any feelings, and seeking the help of a professional.
When a child's behavior is aggressive or harmful, psychiatrists recommend de-escalating techniques such as respecting personal space, avoiding provocation, and setting clear limits.
The program I developed with a colleague was used by many school staff.
Police officers who work in schools get similar training. Most states don't require police in schools to get specialized training on how to deal with troubled youth.
When police respond poorly to a young person in crisis, there isn't a lot of guidance on what to do. On the other hand, an educationist could have called for a police supervisor to speak with the officers. It is reasonable for a teacher to defer to an officer of the law.
The 5-year-old was not safe leaving the school. It wasn't right for police to berate the boy, threaten him with handcuffs and suggest that his mother would take care of the problem. It was concerning that educators allowed it to happen. This situation raises serious questions about how professionals respond to children in crisis and whether police officers are doing more harm than good.
According to The Washington Post, a judge presiding over the lawsuit against the officers said their behavior toward the boy was assaultive.
Two officers have been charged with neglect of duty and failure to be courteous, according to an article.
The matter was closed after they agreed to the punishments. The male and female officers were both suspended for two weeks.
The Conversation is a news site that shares ideas from academic experts. Elizabeth K. Anthony was the author.
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