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ed11563


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http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/kevin-sumner-kentucky-cop-handcuffed-two-disabled-schoolchildren-parents-sue-1.10705887 Reprints

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Parents sue officer who handcuffed mentally disabled kids

August 4, 2015 by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS /

Video posted by the American Civil Liberties Union

A federal lawsuit filed Monday in Northern Kentucky alleges that a Kenton County deputy sheriff shackled two elementary schoolchildren with disabilities, causing them pain and trauma.

The lawsuit says Deputy Kevin Sumner, a school resource officer in Covington, locked handcuffs around the children's biceps and forced their hands behind their backs. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Covington by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children's Law Center and the law firm Dinsmore & Shohl.

The children -- students in the Covington Independent Public Schools district -- were an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, according to the lawsuit.

 

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A video shows the boy, identified as S.R., being shackled and crying out in pain. S.R. has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and a history of trauma, a news release from the ACLU, said.

The girl, L.G., was handcuffed twice behind her back by her biceps, also causing her pain, the lawsuit stated. L.G. has ADHD and other special needs. Both children were being punished for behavior related to their disabilities, the news release said. Neither was arrested nor charged with any criminal conduct. The lawsuit was filed on their behalf.

The incidents occurred last fall, the lawsuit said.

In 2012, the Kentucky Board of Education adopted regulations prohibiting school personnel, defined to include resource officers, from using mechanical restraints such as handcuffs on students, according to the lawsuit. The regulation took effect in 2013.

"Shackling children is not OK. It is traumatizing, and in this case it is also illegal," Susan Mizner, disability counsel for the ACLU, said in the news release. "Using law enforcement to discipline students with disabilities only serves to traumatize children. It makes behavioral issues worse and interferes with the school's role in developing appropriate educational and behavioral plans for them."

Minority students and children with disabilities are especially vulnerable, the news release said. One child in this case is Latino, and the other is black.

Robert Sanders, Sumner's attorney, said Sumner put the children in handcuffs because "they were placing themselves and other people in danger of harm and that's what the book says to do."

"Kevin Sumner is one of the best and most highly trained school resource officers in Kentucky," Sanders said. "He's a teacher who left that profession to become a police officer. He's totally devoted to kids and schools and education."

Col. Pat Morgan of the Kenton County Sheriff's Department told the Herald-Leader on Monday afternoon that the sheriff's office had not received a copy of the lawsuit.

In addition to Sumner, the lawsuit names Kenton County Sheriff Chuck Kor zenborn, alleging his failure to adequately train and supervise Sumner, a school resource officer for several public elementary schools in Covington. The lawsuit further contends that the Kenton County Sheriff's Office violated the Americans With Disabilities Act based on its treatment of the children.

"Kentucky's school personnel are prohibited from using restraints, especially mechanical restraints, to punish children or as a way to force behavior compliance," said Kim Tandy, executive director of the Children's Law Center. "These regulations include school resource officers. These are not situations where law enforcement action was necessary."

In both cases, Sumner handcuffed the children, according to the news release. The lawsuit seeks an order requiring a change in policies by the sheriff's office, and additional training for school resource officers in dealing with young and special-needs children. It also seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages against Sumner.

The news release included a statement from the child S.R.'s mother: "It is heartbreaking to watch my little boy suffer because of this experience. It's hard for him to sleep, he has anxiety, and he is scared of seeing the officer in the school. School should be a safe place for children. It should be a place they look forward to going to. Instead, this has turned into a continuing nightmare for my son."

Officials who filed the lawsuit said officers in schools must be trained to work with children with disabilities and trauma.

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lilyofcourse


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These kids, those with special needs, are not like other kids. They don't have the ability to connect events and consequences.

Now. I believe discipline is absolutely necessary.

But with kids like these, you have to be proactive not reactive.

I don't blame the officers, they are not trained for this kind of thing, in their mind, they were doing what had to be done to keep the kids from hurting themselves or others.



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That may be true, but seeing that picture of the kid handcuffed by his biceps is breaking my heart.

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lilyofcourse


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I have seen this sweet little kids seriously hurt themselves or another.

It may look awful, but it's better than some consequences.



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Ohfour


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(flame suit on)
I think ADD and ADHD are cop-out diagnoses. There may, MAY, be a few kids that really are THAT hyper, but for the vast majority, I think they are brats that could use some discipline.

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huskerbb


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They didn't get handcuffed for one reason. I'd like to know what they did.

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Ohfour wrote:

(flame suit on)
I think ADD and ADHD are cop-out diagnoses. There may, MAY, be a few kids that really are THAT hyper, but for the vast majority, I think they are brats that could use some discipline.

 I'll stand next to you Oh4.  I had a good friend who was a child psychiatrist & he said this repeatedly.  He did not just hand out meds willy nilly.  The parents who didn't like it were free to take their little snowflake to a pill pusher.  The ones who stayed got to the real issue at hand so it could be dealt with properly.  A lot of the problem these days is lack of exercise & proper sleep.



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Lexxy wrote:
Ohfour wrote:

(flame suit on)
I think ADD and ADHD are cop-out diagnoses. There may, MAY, be a few kids that really are THAT hyper, but for the vast majority, I think they are brats that could use some discipline.

 I'll stand next to you Oh4.  I had a good friend who was a child psychiatrist & he said this repeatedly.  He did not just hand out meds willy nilly.  The parents who didn't like it were free to take their little snowflake to a pill pusher.  The ones who stayed got to the real issue at hand so it could be dealt with properly.  A lot of the problem these days is lack of exercise & proper sleep.

And not telling them no.  And controlling the VSS. 



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lilyofcourse


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Hey. I agree. Most ADD and ADHD is simply parents raising brats.

That kind of struck me strange.

ADD, ADHD are not mental disorders. They are behavior disorders.

They can accompany mental disorders.



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Remember when we were kids, and the teacher would say, "Do you have ants in your pants"? She knew when we were getting restless. So she would send us outside for a few minutes, or we would take a walk in a line together around the school...maybe do a few jumping jacks... That made ALL the difference in the world. A little fresh air and some exercise. We would come back in, take out seats and resume our studies.

Now, they don't even have recess anymore. They MAY have PE a couple of times a week, but that's just NOT hard core tag or running around for 30 minutes. No kids were medicated when we were young. I FIRMLY believe lack of exercise/fresh air/discipline is completely to blame...

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Lexxy


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Ohfour wrote:

Remember when we were kids, and the teacher would say, "Do you have ants in your pants"? She knew when we were getting restless. So she would send us outside for a few minutes, or we would take a walk in a line together around the school...maybe do a few jumping jacks... That made ALL the difference in the world. A little fresh air and some exercise. We would come back in, take out seats and resume our studies.

Now, they don't even have recess anymore. They MAY have PE a couple of times a week, but that's just NOT hard core tag or running around for 30 minutes. No kids were medicated when we were young. I FIRMLY believe lack of exercise/fresh air/discipline is completely to blame...

 So do I.  We played hard after school too.  So we were tired by 9pm & got a well rested full night's sleep.



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lilyofcourse


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I agree. We were taught self control and self discipline.

There are very few truly hyper kids.

And recess should be twice a day in my opinion.

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Lexxy wrote:
Ohfour wrote:

Remember when we were kids, and the teacher would say, "Do you have ants in your pants"? She knew when we were getting restless. So she would send us outside for a few minutes, or we would take a walk in a line together around the school...maybe do a few jumping jacks... That made ALL the difference in the world. A little fresh air and some exercise. We would come back in, take out seats and resume our studies.

Now, they don't even have recess anymore. They MAY have PE a couple of times a week, but that's just NOT hard core tag or running around for 30 minutes. No kids were medicated when we were young. I FIRMLY believe lack of exercise/fresh air/discipline is completely to blame...

 So do I.  We played hard after school too.  So we were tired by 9pm & got a well rested full night's sleep.

 I think a lack of sleep plays a big role too. A lot of parents can't be bothered to work around their kid's sleep needs. They don't want to be home early for bedtime or go home for naps- and they don't want to fight with kids about bedtimes, so they just let them go til they crash- which results in much less sleep than they need. 

I was reading something that said there is a correlation between young kids not getting enough sleep and having behavior problems as they got older because of it. But I doubt I can find where I read that, so take it with a grain of salt. 

*the nap things is only for kids who still need naps, obviously.



-- Edited by NAOW on Tuesday 4th of August 2015 05:15:43 PM

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Lady Gaga Snerd


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If they are hurting other kids and they need to be restrained that way then yes.

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lilyofcourse


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NAOW wrote:
Lexxy wrote:
Ohfour wrote:

Remember when we were kids, and the teacher would say, "Do you have ants in your pants"? She knew when we were getting restless. So she would send us outside for a few minutes, or we would take a walk in a line together around the school...maybe do a few jumping jacks... That made ALL the difference in the world. A little fresh air and some exercise. We would come back in, take out seats and resume our studies.

Now, they don't even have recess anymore. They MAY have PE a couple of times a week, but that's just NOT hard core tag or running around for 30 minutes. No kids were medicated when we were young. I FIRMLY believe lack of exercise/fresh air/discipline is completely to blame...

 So do I.  We played hard after school too.  So we were tired by 9pm & got a well rested full night's sleep.

 I think a lack of sleep plays a big role too. A lot of parents can't be bothered to work around their kid's sleep needs. They don't want to be home early for bedtime or go home for naps- and they don't want to fight with kids about bedtimes, so they just let them go til they crash- which results in much less sleep than they need. 

I was reading something that said there is a correlation between young kids not getting enough sleep and having behavior problems as they got older because of it. But I doubt I can find where I read that, so take it with a grain of salt. 

*the nap things is only for kids who still need naps, obviously.



-- Edited by NAOW on Tuesday 4th of August 2015 05:15:43 PM

 I think everyone should have nap time. 

I know I still need naps. LOL...



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huskerbb


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Look, these kids really didn't get hurt. I highly doubt this was done for no reason.

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