Tased At School

Handcuffs, getting arrested, the police, criminal justice: You'd think this blog was taking a turn to being all about law and order.

A further entangling of education and the law and I don't mean IDEA: In Carmel, Indiana, the February Carmel Star reports that a then-14-year-old student on the spectrum was tased twice by an officer inside the school. On March 11 of last year, the student was late for school and was told he would receive detention at the end of the day. He became frustrated and "'acted out.'"

"During this outburst he is saying outrageous things," said the Bells' attorney, Ronald Frazier, noting that the boy threatened to call members of his gang to retaliate against the teachers.

"They know there is no gang there," Frazier said. "They know he has no way of acting on what he is saying. They are taking these idle threats and calling police."

The Bells contend the school district failed to follow the guidelines they had set up to deal with the boy's outbursts -- techniques the family says would have given the boy a chance to cool off.

"When a child like (the Bells' son) starts to have emotional problems, the (individual procedure) is supposed to be followed," Frazier said. "It has specific steps that are to be taken in order to keep the child from melting totally down."

Instead, school officials dialed 911.<

An officer came to the school and, when he was not able to "control the 5-foot, 90-pound boy," the officer drew his Taser and shocked the boy two times. The boy was unconscious and taken to a local hospital, before being released to his mother.

Somehow it seems that the school should have had another way to deal with the student getting upset than...........calling 911?

Photo by hermanturnip.