There’s no question that police arrest people for trivial matters, but what police in public schools have been doing to children across America is nothing short of insanity. It’s only gotten worse over time as the supposed infractions have become increasingly inconsequential.
“We are arresting them at younger and younger ages [in cases] that used to be covered with a trip to the principal’s office, not sending children to jail,” says Emma Jordan-Simpson, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund, a national children’s advocacy group. Children as young as five are being charged with crimes that ruin their records and traumatize them, and for what? Below are the top ten abuses of police authority in dealing with children.
1. 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes from Austin, Texas was arrested and charged with a criminal misdemeanor for spraying perfume on herself because other kids were teasing her about smelling bad.
2. A 13-year-old student in Albuquerque was charged with “interfering with public education” because he burped in class. Even worse, authorities moved him from school to a detention facility without even notifying his parents.
3. 12-year-old Alexa Gonzales was arrested by police and marched out of school in handcuffs because she doodled on her desk, “I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)”
4. 6-year-old Hayley Franklin was placed in handcuffs and taken to an adult mental health facility for having temper tantrums in class.
5. 17-year-old honor student Ashley Smithwick from North Carolina accidentally took her father’s lunch to school. In it was a small paring knife to slice apples. Police raided her lunchbox, as well as other students’ possessions, likely looking for drugs. Smithwick was suspended for the remainder of her senior year, banned from campus, and charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon on school grounds.
6. An eleven-year-old in Florida was handcuffed, taken to jail, and charged with a third-degree felony for bringing a plastic butter knife to school.
7. A seven-year-old special education student in California was blasted with pepper spray by a veteran cop because he wouldn’t climb down from a book shelf.
8. A young girl had the police called on her for kissing a boy in her P.E. class, with the assistant principal calling it a “possible sex crime.”
9. A six-year-old boy in California was suspended and charged with “sexual battery” after he brushed his best friend’s leg or groin during a game of tag.
10. Five-year-old Hailey Benoit from Boston burst into tears after police were dispatched to her house to collect overdue library books.
Public schools are scary enough for children without the added force of police. Kids should be free to be kids, to make mistakes and learn, but these excessive abuses of authority are likely to make children more distrustful and scared of adults and authority in general.
[about_faith]
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