And this is the country that is going to show the world about how to live?

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April 9, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
6-Year-Olds Under Arrest
By BOB HERBERT

Avon Park, Fla.

When 6-year-old Desre'e Watson threw a tantrum in her kindergarten 
class a couple of weeks ago she could not have known that the full 
force of the law would be brought down on her and that she would be 
carted off by the police as a felon.

But that's what happened in this small, backward city in central 
Florida. According to the authorities, there were no other options.

"The student became violent," said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense 
chief of the Avon Park police. "She was yelling, screaming - just 
being uncontrollable. Defiant."

"But she was 6," I said.

The chief's reply came faster than a speeding bullet: "Do you think 
this is the first 6-year-old we've arrested?"

The child's tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28 at the Avon 
Elementary School. According to the police report, "Watson was upset 
and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let them 
study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities."

After a few minutes, Desre'e was, in fact, taken to another room. She 
was "isolated," the chief said. But she would not calm down. She 
flailed away at the teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one 
woman's hair. She was kicking.

I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. "Yes," he said. At least 
one woman reported "some redness."

After 20 minutes of this "uncontrollable" behavior, the police were 
called in. At the sight of the two officers, Chief Mercurio said, 
Desre'e "tried to take flight."

She went under a table. One of the police officers went after her. 
Each time the officer tried to grab her to drag her out, Desre'e 
would pull her legs away, the chief said.

Ultimately the child was no match for Avon Park's finest. The cops 
pulled her from under the table and handcuffed her. The officers were 
not fooling around. In the eyes of the cops the 6-year-old was a 
criminal, and in Avon Park she would be treated like any other felon.

There was a problem, though. The handcuffs were not manufactured with 
kindergarten kids in mind. The chief explained: "You can't handcuff 
them on their wrists because their wrists are too small, so you have 
to handcuff them up by their biceps."

As I sat listening to Chief Mercurio in a spotless, air-conditioned 
conference room at the Avon Park police headquarters, I had the 
feeling that I had somehow stumbled into the middle of a skit on 
"Saturday Night Live." The chief seemed like the most reasonable of 
men, but what was coming out of his mouth was madness.

He handed me a copy of the police report: black female. Six years 
old. Thin build. Dark complexion.

Desre'e was put in the back of a patrol car and driven to the police 
station. "Then," said Chief Mercurio, "she was transported to central 
booking, which is the county jail."

The child was fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken. "Those are the 
normal procedures for anyone who is arrested," the chief said.

Desre'e was charged with battery on a school official, which is a 
felony, and two misdemeanors: disruption of a school function and 
resisting a law enforcement officer. After a brief stay at the county 
jail, she was released to the custody of her mother.

The arrest of this child, who should have been placed in the care of 
competent, comforting professionals rather than being hauled off to 
jail, is part of an outlandish trend of criminalizing very young 
children that has spread to many school districts and law enforcement 
agencies across the country.

A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters, like Desre'e, 
are black. In Baltimore last month, the police arrested, handcuffed 
and hauled away a 7-year-old black boy for allegedly riding a dirt 
bike on the sidewalk. The youngster was released and the mayor, 
Sheila Dixon, apologized for the incident, saying the arrest was 
inappropriate.

Last spring a number of civil rights organizations collaborated on a 
study of disciplinary practices in Florida schools and concluded that 
many of them, "like many districts in other states, have turned away 
from traditional education-based disciplinary methods - such as 
counseling, after-school detention, or extra homework assignments - 
and are looking to the legal system to handle even the most minor 
transgressions."

Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood misbehavior is 
criminal behavior, it's easy to start seeing young children as 
somehow monstrous.

"Believe me when I tell you," said Chief Mercurio, "a 6-year-old can 
inflict injury to you just as much as any other person."

-- 
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When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint.  When I asked 
why the poor were hungry, they called me a communist.
--Dom Helda Camara, Brazilian Bishop
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Alfred Joseph, PhD
Associate Professor
Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work
110 D McGuffey Hall
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
phone	513 529 4902
fax	513 529 6468
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