Girl, 10, Cuffed for Scissors in School

PHILADELPHIA Dec 11, 2004 — A 10-year-old girl was placed in handcuffs and taken to a police station because she took a pair of scissors to her elementary school.

School district officials said the fourth-grade student did not threaten anyone with the 8-inch shears, but violated a rule that considers scissors to be potential weapons.

Administrators said they were following state law when they called police Thursday, and police said they were following department rules when they handcuffed Porsche Brown and took her away in a patrol wagon.

"My daughter cried and cried," said her mother, Rose Jackson. "She had no idea what she did was wrong. I think that was way too harsh."

Police officers decided the girl hadn't committed a crime and let her go.

However, school officials suspended her for five days. Administrators will decide at a hearing whether she may return to class, or be expelled to a special disciplinary school.

The scissors were discovered while students' belongings were being searched for property missing from a teacher's desk.

School district officials have promised a crackdown on unruly students this year, and new policies give administrators the power to expel students for infractions as minor as violating the dress code, chronic tardiness or habitual swearing.

Administrators say the steps are needed to regain control over a notoriously unruly school system, but some parents have complained that discipline has been overly harsh and that school officials have been too quick to call police about minor problems.

- The Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=321792

That is wrong and stupid! It's like expelling a little 5 or 6 year-old boy for pointing his finger and a little girl and saying 'bang!'

How ridiculous can you get? Aren't scissors usually on basic school supply lists? Okay those are usually round-edged kiddie scissors, but are they gonna start taking those away?

And hello. Almost anything can be used as a weapon. Are they gonna say you can't bring pens, pencils, rulers, hands, backpacks, etc. to school?

Last summer. a little kid threw a cupcake at some passerby's truck. They didn't press charges, but they were going to. Press charges on a CUPCAKE? When was the last time a cupcake hurt you? A cupcake, people!

Lol!

I guess at one of the middle schools in town, you can't have rubber bands because they're considered weapons. You could get suspended if you had one.

Ok, I can understand a little.. they can hurt. But come on! Are they going to count hair ties next? What about paper, it can give you a paper cut! *thinks* Hey, then I wouldn't have hw..

... or pencils, I've got a kid in my year level who's convinced some girl stabed him with one and the lead broke off and is still in his skin to this very day. My school doesn't have such stupid bans, but when two kids were play fighting in french (which just goes to show how amaxingly able to control the class the teacher is) and one of them was holding some scissors. The other boy thought the boy with the sicssors was going to hurt him with them and grabbed them... by the blade, which cut his hand.

Putting handcuffs on children is a serious hazard to their health. There have been too many instances when cuffs, put on in the wrong way, have bruised, cut, or even broken bones. I have a friend that was handcuffed (for a ridiculous reason, he had brought a nail file to school) and broke his wrist. His parents filed a law suit against the school district, the city and the police department. It's still in there, I think. Even though it has been two years.

And the charges in general are ridiculous. I think the zero tolerance policy has harmed far too many children then it has helped. I have not yet heard a success story (if you have one, please post the link, for then I would not be so misinformed).

I have had four of my friends arrested (not including myself) because they have said stupid things, or done stupid things. That they thought they could really TRUST the student councilor, and the teachers, and thought that an essay they did on "The Dead Zone" would get them expelled, because they agreed that Johnny Smith did the right thing in shooting the president. Apparently they thought this was a death threat... or some such nonesense.

Oof, thinking about this has got me mad. I gotta go.

Wow, handcuffing someone for scissors?! Did she know that was actually a school rule, because they could have at least warned her about it. Even pencils are more dangerous! Can someone actually hurt you with scissors? Just go look at the nearest scissor you have people, if they're not sewing scissors or a really hard-core scissor, you will see that the blade is as blunt as ball.

*Waits until everybody comes back from looking at scissors. Nate stays utterly amuzed by one and doesn't come back* j/k...don't kill me

You can't brutally stab someone with scissors, whereas pencils can puncture your flesh and stab major arteries and organs. I mean, even paper is more dangerous! Just look at it, papercuts can cut your skin, and you can have major internal or exterior bleeding, and actually die!

They should have at least warned her to put the scissors down or something. Or maybe the article is just badly organized, and maybe she was playing with the scissors and almost stabbed someone. You never know...

that's stupid! This is a ten year old girl here, not some terrorist!

That is the STUPIDEST thing I have ever heard. Handcuffing a little kid because she brought scissors to school? Hello! Most teachers HAVE SCISSORS AVAILABLE for kids to use at school. I guess not at this school...

Anyway, that is just ridiculous and I really don't see why in the world they did that. The poor girl

you're country should have protested against the patriot act more. we had the terrorism act thrown out ( or at least altered)

Big brother is watching you, look busy.

MasterChief wrote:you're country should have protested against the patriot act more. we had the terrorism act thrown out ( or at least altered)

Big brother is watching you, look busy.

I'm a bit confused as to how a story about a girl being cuffed for scissors relates to the patriot act. Perhaps you could clarify?

being cuffed has psychological effects on young children. that was way too harsh

Wow. I really feel sorry for her!
If that happened to me then i would like check my bag to make sure there is nothing sharp n my bag. And if a police car comes near I would have a bloody panic attack!
That is really wrong.

That's absolutely ridiculous! That poor little girl, how stupid can they get?

wow... thats just.... Bloody stupid. I mean, yes, they were big scissors, but couldn't they have just confinscated them? I mean, if its at a school where a kid would get in that much trouble for bringing them, at least around here, its also a school where parents don't always have the money to spend to get the kids new scissors. And if the teacher said to bring scissors, and she could only find a big pair, then, being a ten year old, she'd probably bring them. *sighs and wanders away from the topic muttering about how Jareth should take all the idiots and kill them*