Miami, FL — Authorities have successfully completed the school to mental health pipeline, as efficiently as they’ve done with the school to prison streamlining. A 7-year-old Miami boy was arrested, placed in handcuffs, and taken to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after he allegedly attacked a teacher.
Mercy Alvarez—the boy's mother—is incensed with the school and Miami-Dade Schools Police. She said:
This is police abuse; a whim of the officer, because my son was calm when they came to look for him...The principal, the counselor, and two other people tried to prevent that action and the officer took the child anyway.It was the second time over the last few months school police were called to deal with Alvarez’ son’s behavior. On this occasion, instead of simply remanding the boy to his mother, the school resource officer transported him to the hospital where he would be forced to undergo a mental health evaluation. Such actions often result in small children being forced to take dangerous anti-depressant medicines which have been proven to cause children like Alverez’ son to kill themselves.
The incident took place at Coral Way K-8 Center in Miami. Using the Florida Mental Health Act (Baker Act), the officer was legally allowed to detain the boy. After arriving at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, he was admitted (the cost of which was undoubtedly passed on to the family) and discharged a few hours later.
Alvarez claims her son does not have emotional or behavioral problems and suggested in her comments the actions taken by the school and the police were an overreaction. Predictably, the police disagree.
He does not have a mental disorder.Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ian Moffett said in a statement the actions were unusual but “was warranted to prevent his erratic and violent behavior from bringing further harm to others or himself.”
Since the video (below) of her son’s kidnapping and forced medical treatment has gone viral, Alvarez says she’s been contacted by numerous mothers who say the same thing happened to them. Alvarez is a local independent journalist. She commented:
more than 30 mothers in Miami have written to me in solidarity because their children have done the same thing.Public schools spokeswoman Jackie Calzadilla issued a press release about the alleged incident saying Alvarez’ son, “began behaving erratically and hit a teacher. Due to a great concern for the student and to ensure his safety and that of those around him, he was restricted according to the Baker Act and transported to the hospital to be evaluated.”
The kind of actions which in the past would have resulted in discipline by the principal now involve the prison industrial system and their school enforcers. Understandably, the family is outraged and seeking legal counsel. They’re now planning to sue.
Alvarez says her son no longer wants to be a police officer when he grows up saying they’re “bad.” In more academic terms, Alvarez claims the actions of the school and its police force have now traumatized her son.
They have created a psychological trauma, and instead of fixing the problem, you are building a problem.Professional career teachers know most behavioral problems can be solved with an effectively trained teacher. It’s unclear who the teacher is, if he/she is even certified, or if the teacher has his/her own history of being unable to control their students.
Equally disturbing is the fact the police state is now making its presence in almost every school in the United States. In the past, fights taking place on campuses were broken up by concerned teachers, the students suspended (sometimes for the semester) and order was restored to the campus.
In this new millennium, police are often the first ones called, students are then arrested and subjected to the mercy of the prison industrial system which sucks money and time from the family and often leaves the student with a criminal record. When will Americans rise up and demand schools take care of their own problems—in house. Enough is enough. Watch the video for yourself and decide if this is the America we want to live in.
it's all the parents fault, I believe children don't need to go to school. reading, writing and math are the only things they need to learn before they can gather information from books and internet and the parents can teach them that much.
but if anybody sends their kids to school, they should teach them how to behave. what can we expect from teachers? to let one kid ruin other kid's education?
... I've seen children, they are the most annoying type of humans.
This is really absurd.....there's no good enough reason to handcuff a 7year old....it just doesn't make sense
Arresting a 7 year old child, which is what he is a child for crying out loud for something as absurd as these and exposing him to the Justice system that is supposed to be reserved for the adults is totally ridiculous, almost like using an aircraft gun to kill a fly how does that solve the problem . There are better and more effective child disciplinary ways to deal with the situation. Shame on the police and the school administration for allowing it to happen.
agreed. but when your only tool is a hammer, everything begins to look like nails.... even children.