8-year-old pepper sprayed

[Backroads]

Colorado police pepper-spray 8-year-old student | Newswatch | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- The mother of an 8-year-old boy pepper-sprayed by suburban Denver police as he threw a violent tantrum at his elementary school said Wednesday that she wishes authorities had chosen to talk him down instead.

Police in Lakewood say they pepper-sprayed 8-year-old Aidan Elliott twice Feb. 22 at Glennon Heights Elementary School after he refused to drop a piece of wooden wall trim that he was trying to stab them with.

"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."

His mother, Mandy, said she wants police in Lakewood to get special training in dealing with children. She said her son has a history of behavioral problems and has responded to rationalization in previous outbursts.

"I don't think a child should get pepper sprayed," the woman said.

Asked on ABC's "Good Morning America" whether he meant it when he told police he wanted to kill them, the boy responded: "A little."

Police say pepper-spraying the boy was the safest option.

"I kind of deserved it," Aidan conceded to "Today."

The mother said her son was in a special program for children with behavioral problems. He has since transferred to another school.

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Information from: KUSA-TV, 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's online news leader | Breaking news, headlines, weather, sports, business and more.

[pam]

I was reading about that last week. I have mixed feelings on it.

[Backroads]

Same here. I've worked with crazy kids before... once they're in the middle of a tantrum, it's hard to really talk them down. Pepper spray is painful, but really quite harmless in the end. I just hate the thought of it being done to a kid! But if they couldn't talk down a kid, what else? It's illegal for cops or staff to tackle a kid.

[Dravin]

If physically stopping him from acting out was necessary I can't really fault them for pepper-spray.

[estradling75]

Pepper spray is better then a bullet too.

Given the age of the kid I think its pretty clear his 'support network' has failed. The unknown is why. While I concede the possibility that the kid has some condition's that they were not prepared to deal with its not the first thing I would assume

[NeuroTypical]

The cops I know tend to have something in common - they want to go home at the end of the day. That means there is no such thing as laughing off someone threatening to kill you. A pepper-sprayed kid with behavioral issues, is a just fine and dandy kid with behavioral issues who gets to give lots of interviews to Today and whatnot later on. Much better than the alternative methods of subduing someone threatening violence.

Yep - pepper spray and tasers are wonderful tools for police. When you think about minimizing the risk of injury (to the offender, bystanders, and the cops), would you rather have them wrestling and possibly injuring someone, or clubbing someone with a nightstick, or shooting someone?

[slamjet]

I got no problem with it in this situation. If they did anything else and the kid got a bruise, then they'd still be sued to no end. Some parents need to see their kids for what they are at times.

[pam]

The mom in this story stated she wished they had just talked him down instead of pepper spraying him. Well I know from experience with my own son who had ODD at that age..there is NO talking down. They aren't in control of their anger at that point.

[Guest Godless]

I read the full story a few days ago. The brat deserved it. I think the cops made the best decision given the circumstances.

[Backroads]

I once had a disturbed boy throw a chair and a keyboard at me. At least this kid was the type to flee the room to destress, not try to kill me.

[NeuroTypical]

My local small town police chief tells me about the only time he was ever injured by a detainee in handcuffs. It was a 14 year old girl, who basically grabbed his arm, pulled herself up and kicked backwards so hard it dislodged his kneecap.

By his account, children and young teens are more dangerous than adults in such situations. No ability to compute long-term consequences, fewer inhibitions, a much shorter distance between human and animal. Drunks and folks on something are predictable. Normal adult suspects are mostly predictable. Children and young teens will kick your kneecap off before you can blink.

[Sali]

I read the full story a few days ago. The brat deserved it. I think the cops made the best decision given the circumstances.

Hmmm not sure I'd call the kid a brat. More like a kid who is great need of some help. I'm with Pam on this, I have mixed feelings. I hope this child is getting some major psychiatric help.

[Backroads]

Hmmm not sure I'd call the kid a brat. More like a kid who is great need of some help. I'm with Pam on this, I have mixed feelings. I hope this child is getting some major psychiatric help.

I remember reading a veteran social worker's (one who actually specialized in kids with behavioral disorders) views on this incident. She definitely said the kid needed psychiatric help (and is getting it) but even so the kid and his mother don't seem to be taking enough responsibility. It's hard to help people who believe they are beyond help.

But whether the kid was just being a brat or legitimitaely unable to control himself at the time (and I do believe the latter)... what do you do at that point? You have to stop the kid before he hurts himself or others.

Yes, it's definitely not a black/white issue.

[MarginOfError]

It is kind of tough. If the kid has lost control of his emotions and subsequently his actions, spraying him isn't going to help that. It will only incapacitate him. But an incapacitated threat is better than a stick waving threat. And a kid on the ground screaming is probably better than a kid being wrestled to the ground by a police office three times his size and breaking bones.

So I'm not going to fault the officer on this one. Tough call to make in the moment. If he had used a taser, however, I'd criticize openly (mostly because it's hard to know how much of a shock a child that young can take).

[Sali]

I remember reading a veteran social worker's (one who actually specialized in kids with behavioral disorders) views on this incident. She definitely said the kid needed psychiatric help (and is getting it) but even so the kid and his mother don't seem to be taking enough responsibility. It's hard to help people who believe they are beyond help.

But whether the kid was just being a brat or legitimitaely unable to control himself at the time (and I do believe the latter)... what do you do at that point? You have to stop the kid before he hurts himself or others.

Yes, it's definitely not a black/white issue.

I am concerned about this as well as the 'glamourisation' of the whole issue. This child is getting an awful lot of attention over a hugely negative incident. I'm not sure this is such a brilliant idea.

[Madriglace]

I read the write up before I saw the Today Show clip ... this kid was throwing chairs, threw a television was trying to break down a door to a room where the teacher and other kids had gone to get away from him ... he had the stick in one hand and box knife in the other. This was also not the first time the police had been called to one of his tantrums. Then to inforce his bad behaivior they have him on TV ... good move! His mother said it was the school that caused him to be mad ... no consequences for him just move him somewhere else ... the police were right ... he had to be stopped before someone got hurt and from what the reports said the pepper spray dropped him. Big problem today ... everyone is a victime and no one is expected to responsible for his own actions. The way the kid came off to me on TV he had absolutely no problem with what he did, he figures if he gets mad he can do and say anything he wants.

[Backroads]

Today this crusty old cop came into my office today, and a few of us got to chatting with him about this very incident. Now, this man admits he doesn't know the setup of the situation, but described a tactic he would have considered using to harmlessly grab the boy from behind. But then, this same gruff old man says the kid deserved pepper spray anyway.

[jayanna]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I don't know how many moms around here whose sons have gone/ are going to prison for violent crimes that say, "Oh, well, you know, he has ADHD. I always knew that's what his problem was."

Please tell me he is going to get this addressed before he becomes an adult and it takes a lot more than pepper spray to stop him from hurting someone...like my daughter. I just really feel like mom is not taking it as seriously as she should...that he isn't just a victim, he's a perpetrator

The scary thing is, I think there are grown adults walking around all over the place with this very problem...they just know how to hide it.

[Sali]

What surprises me too is that they have not hospitalised this child. He obviously is a danger to others and that is one of the prerequisites for hospitalisation.

[Just_A_Guy]

When you disallow educators from using relatively moderate tactics (use of corporeal punishment or any kind of shaming that might cause "emotional damage" to the kids), extreme tactics involving the police are all that's left to maintain order.

[Iggy]

What? There wasn't a bucket of cold water handy? JAG- will the parent be legally responsible for the damages this kid caused?

[NeuroTypical]

I don't know how many moms around here whose sons have gone/ are going to prison for violent crimes that say, "Oh, well, you know, he has ADHD. I always knew that's what his problem was."

Our prisons are full to brimming with convicts with permissive, apathetic, evil, or missing mommies. One reason it's hard to talk to someone in charge in a prison, is because that person doesn't want to spend all day on the phone with worried mommies telling him that poor Bubba gets upset if the crusts aren't cut off his sandwich the right way.

Being a mommy like this doesn't guarantee you will raise a convict. But if you're a convict, you've got a better-than-half chance of having a mommy like this.

LM

[slamjet]

Our prisons are full to brimming with convicts with permissive, apathetic, evil, or missing mommies. One reason it's hard to talk to someone in charge in a prison, is because that person doesn't want to spend all day on the phone with worried mommies telling him that poor Bubba gets upset if the crusts aren't cut off his sandwich the right way.

Being a mommy like this doesn't guarantee you will raise a convict. But if you're a convict, you've got a better-than-half chance of having a mommy like this.

LM

At the risk of turning this into a thread about convicts, I disagree with much about this statement. Spend a week in a county lid and you'll see that it's not about Bubba getting the crust cut off his PB&J, but that no one is stopping Bubba from doing other things to little Ricky. The way it works is thus:

If you don't mess with the CO's program, they won't mess with yours.

There's a reason why there is such a strong hatred for cops these days. I can go on and on, but I shall stop here.

[Just_A_Guy]

What? There wasn't a bucket of cold water handy? JAG- will the parent be legally responsible for the damages this kid caused?

*shrug* Depends on what state they're in.

[Dr T]

Catch 22 in this situation. Working in Psych hospitals, residential treatment facilities, group homes and disruptive behavior disordered school I've seen a LOT that kids do.