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Cherokee_Mountaincat
Apr 6, 2011, 11:33 PM
Frankly, he should have been yanked over someone's lap for a butt blistering, not a pepper spraying...:2cents:


Colorado police pepper-spray misbehaving boy, 8
DENVER – Eight-year-old Aidan Elliott had thrown a TV and chairs at his Colorado elementary school and was trying to use a cart to bust through a door to an office where teachers and other students fled for safety.

No one could calm the boy, not even the staff in a program for children with behavior problems like him. So they called police, who had intervened with Aidan twice before.

Police found him with a foot-long piece of wood trim with a knife-like point in one hand and a cardboard box in the other.

"Come get me, f-----," he said.

When they couldn't calm him down, one squirted Aidan with pepper spray. He blocked it with the cardboard box.

A second squirt hit the youngster in the side of the head, and down he went, according to an account of the Feb. 22 standoff in a police report first obtained by KUSA-TV.

Aidan and his mother went on national talk shows on Wednesday to say using pepper spray on an unruly 8-year-old was too much.

Police and officials at Glennon Heights Elementary in Lakewood, Colo., say it could've been worse.

"Had the officers chosen to be hands-on with him, the potential for him getting some type of injury and, maybe even officers, would have been much higher," police spokesman Steve Davis said.

"It was the best choice made," he said.

Aidan started acting up while on the bus to school, the police report said. He began screaming and then continued after breakfast while throwing chairs at his teachers.

"He was being very aggressive, very violent," said Melissa Reeves, the school district spokeswoman.

There were eight students with Aidan in the classroom, Reeves said, and teachers removed them after he became violent. They barricaded themselves in an office, as he tried to bust in, Davis said.

Aidan was swearing and shouting expletives at his teachers and threatening them, Davis said. He taunted police when they arrived.

"I wanted to make something sharp, like if they came out, `cause I was so mad at them," the boy said on NBC's "Today" show. "I was going to try to whack them with it."

After hitting him with the second squirt, officers took Aidan outside for some fresh air to help dissipate the spray. Paramedics were treating his red, irritated face with cool water when his mother arrived.

According to the report, Mandy Elliott asked her son what he did.

When he told her he had been hit with pepper spray, she is quoted as saying, "Well, you probably deserved it."

It wasn't the first time officers had been called to pacify Aidan, Davis said. They'd been able to talk him down in two other incidents.

On Wednesday, Mandy Elliott said she wished authorities had chosen to talk him down. She also wanted police to get special training in dealing with children. Aidan has since transferred to another school.

When asked about the pepper spray and what he did, Aidan said: "I kind of deserved it."

___

DuckiesDarling
Apr 7, 2011, 12:26 AM
Okay I read that article and I'm sitting here thinking if this is the third time that police have been called to deal with an eight year old child why isn't CPS involved and making sure the home environment is not causing issues. I think in this case the pepper spray was more than appropriate considering he was armed and serious injury to both the child and the officers could have occured if they had rushed him.

Something is seriously wrong with that child or in that house and moving him to another school will only delay the help he needs. Children act out for a variety of reasons but to actually state he wanted to make something sharp and hurt someone? He needs to see a child pyschologist as soon as possible not appear on tv talk shows. :2cents:

Bluebiyou
Apr 7, 2011, 1:34 AM
I conservatively say:
Just execute the kid now or put him in maximum security prison for life.
Do we need to wait for this kid to grow up and start harming and killing folks en masse before we realize there are simply bad apples from early on who really should be eliminated? (answer--- yes)
Of course I say this in complete contradiction to many principles I've held in the past on threads of this site.
I'm tired, time for bed.

Cherokee_Mountaincat
Apr 7, 2011, 3:15 AM
Oh good grief Blue. Get some sleep, or Something. The kid Does need some serious mental help, but so do the parents if the mother said "Well you probably deserved it."
I think maybe She needs to be pulled over someone's lap for some old fashoned corporal punishment too! I know of some law enforcers who would have offered Their laps rather than harm a child unless absolutly necessary.
Too bad more of old fashioned disipline isnt used nowdays. Maybe BS like this would cease if it did..
Cat, waiting for it to begin.

Diva667
Apr 7, 2011, 7:08 AM
Probably has bipolar disorder and other issues. It isn't unknown...

RockGardener
Apr 7, 2011, 2:06 PM
I have worked in classrooms such as the one the boy was in. There is a good possibility that the boy is getting counseling, behavior management training and many other services. He is in a class for students with behavior issues.

It appears the boy has significant issues. Changing schools may possibly be to a more intense program.

The mother knows that he has issues, that's why she said he probably deserved it. I doubt he is any different at home than he is at school, in fact, probably worse. The mother is probably at her wit's end.

This is the third time police have had to be called for the child. I'm guessing there have been many, many times that there have been issues with this boy that the cops have not been called. I'm not saying that pepper spray is or is not excessive force, I was not there.

But I have been in situations where the classroom has had to be cleared because of one student, and it is not fun. There are policies in place for such situations and it appeared the teacher followed them. The choice to call the police is not the teacher's, it is the office that makes that decision. It is possible that this situation had already gone through many steps before the the child was sprayed.

My guess is: 1) someone on the bus line saw his behavior, tried to calm him, that didn't work, 2) the aide in the classroom tried to calm him, didn't work, 3) the teacher tried to calm, didn't work, 4) the office was called, counseler tried to calm, didn't work, 5) teacher took rest of class to another room, he escalated further, 6) police were called in hopes that would calm the child, most likely it was an officer that knew the kid, didn't work, 7) by this time there was no getting close to the child to subdue him, holds, take-downs, whatever, so 8) the child got sprayed.

By the way, unless that teacher is a miracle worker, the rest of the class will get no academic learning for the rest of the week. They will be too worked up to do their assignments, the teacher will have to get them back down, ready to work on Monday.

matutum
Apr 7, 2011, 3:07 PM
Probably has bipolar disorder and other issues. It isn't unknown...

he is 8 years old..people ran for safety hahahah..give me a break, walk up to him and grab him..maybe a tazer would have been more effective? there are a lot of sissys out there, i was lied to and the guy looked at me and said 'so I lied,what u gonna do about it" there was only 2 hits, one to his jaw and the other when he hit the ground, i was brought up survival of the fittest,sorry but thats just me,

elian
Apr 7, 2011, 4:03 PM
If they couldn't physically subdue him then pepper spray was non-lethal and probably a good choice given everything else they already tried. They are right, it could have been worse, the police have guns.

My parents used "the board of education" on my behind when I was bad, it did cause some resentment but overall it worked for me, I learned to be polite and respectful at least to some degree. (I guess the trick is finding the line where it turns from punishment to all out abuse). However, that's me, and I don't want to judge any more than that - there are some individuals who really do need extra support and attention in this world and I hope the people who care about him are able to find something that works.

Annika L
Apr 7, 2011, 5:18 PM
I have a suspicion that there have been entirely too many butt-blisterings for that child already...but that's pure conjecture.

I tend to agree with both DD and Rocky. This child has serious issues...they are being addressed, however adequately/inadequately...but it got out of hand, and this was possibly the safest way to end the situation quickly (or at all).