万花筒2008-01-30:幼儿园小童被铐（在线收听）

A kindergartener was handcuffed by school's safety officers after a tantrum

The Rivera family was trying to go to lunch, but they were still doing interviews from the family car. Five-year-old Dennis needed little prompting.  

"They put handcuff on me" “How do they put the handcuffs on you, in your front or your back?” “My back. ”

Then the boy showed us with his little hands, the kindergartener apparently had a tantrum at P.S.81 in Queens last week and a school safety officer cuffed him. Baby-sitter Sandy Ortiz said she rushed to the school to find a cuffed and crying Dennis waiting for transport for a psychiatric evaluation.

I said release him, because I'm the baby-sitter. They are supposed to release him. They said no. 

And what did they say then? What did they do?

They just kept him down to them, they both came and took us both to the hospital.  

Dennis Senior says his son had been receiving speech therapy, but had not been diagnosed with any psychiatric problems. He calls the school’s action a disgrace.

You go to wherever it is you need it got to be, this teacher and this principal and this guy this counselor and you weren't mentally fit and capable to handle a five-year-old boy. That goes to show you that somebody is incompetent somewhere.  

The Union Rep. for the safety officer says normally school staff handles disruptive students, for an officer to intervene, things must have been out of control.

Our school safety agent didn’t choose to go in there and tackle or do anything to this child, she was called to perform a service.  

Parents picking up their kids this afternoon expressed shock and surprise. “It was wrong, you don’t handcuff a five-year-old or a ten-year-old, they’re little kids, so I think that was very wrong. ”Both the department of education and the police department which has jurisdiction over the school’s safety officers say they are investigating the episode, the Rivera family has retained an attorney.