> This kid wasn't a precocious trouble-maker,
> but suffers from ADHD with apparent
> behavioral issues

Nowadays, that doesn't mean much. In other words, an illiterate cop wanted to terrorize someone.

For the first five decades of my life, I strongly and consciously believed America had learned to deeply suppress and oppose the bullying impulse. It was one of those miracles from our national character that nobody bothered to talk about.

So for the first year, maybe two, "…Or the terrorists will have won!" was a cheerfully sarcastic punch line.

But 9/11 gave all those assholes —American assholes, not distant terrorists— an opportunity to step out into their communities and make good people miserable.

We've brought infinitely more suffering to each other, more small-mindedness and more suppression of kindness, than terrorism could ever have done. Indisputably.

Amy's right: We were always going oppose —and readily defeat— terror from elsewhere.

I think that bullying by authority figures is simply part of human nature and like Crid said only needs a reason to 'hide' behind.

This, combined with the article last week about everything becoming a legal matter, convinces me that we are turning into a tattletale nation. Don't like something that someone else is doing? Whine to Mommy, er, Big Brother!

So, if the child, by some stroke of luck, actually did seriously hurt the police officer, then the child should have been restrained?

Or if an adult hits a police officer but doesn't seriously hurt the cop, then nothing should happen?

The line you're apparently drawing is that a small child (who is old enough to go to school) has the right to hit and kick policemen as long as he doesn't injure them.

Poppycock.

I might fault to the policeman for how he handled the situation prior to the child kicking him, but there isn't enough information provided. And it doesn't really matter, anyway, even if the officer had been utterly clueless.

You hit someone; there are consequences. You are never too young to learn that lesson. And if you hit a cop, the consequences just got higher.

You hit someone; there are consequences. You are never too young to learn that lesson. And if you hit a cop, the consequences just got higher. -- Patrick at December 16, 2013 11:23 AM

Actually on that specific issue you are correct. The child should face consequences for committing felony assault on a police officer. He should be tried as an adult. He needs to be put under the juvenile justice detention center.

Let's ignore the general issue is that a five year old child was being "interrogated" by a police officer without a parent present. And the fact that the school thought this was a good idea. WTF!?!?!

A school official and a police office picked a fight with a five year old boy, but only after they made sure to isolate him and outnumber him.

The five year old was the only person whose response was age appropriate.

I wish the liberal media would stop publishing these awful hit pieces on America's 9/11 heroes.

Damned NPR.

The line you're apparently drawing is that a small child (who is old enough to go to school) has the right to hit and kick policemen as long as he doesn't injure them.

Poppycock.

And once more Patrick sucks the cock of government power.

We all know you think the state can do no wrong Patty

You hit someone; there are consequences. You are never too young to learn that lesson. And if you hit a cop, the consequences just got higher.

Agreed, so what punishment should the cop face as he illegally laid his hands on the child first?

Oh and what about the kidnapping and false imprisonment charges?

"A school official and a police office picked a fight with a five year old boy, but only after they made sure to isolate him and outnumber him.

The five year old was the only person whose response was age appropriate."

Ding. Ding. Ding!

Absolutely 100% right on!

Patrick, this is a pre-school kid. You don't fuckin' hog tie a pre-k child and haul them downtown without their parents!

My god, can you even imagine the terror that kid must have felt? The school brings you into the office, a policeman tells you you're a bad kid, then you're tied up by this stranger, put in his car, and taken away to see a doctor without your mom or dad. And presumably along the way intimidated into not talking about the whole thing since his mom didn't find out he'd been zip-tied until two weeks afterwards.

Yeah, that's going to be *real* productive in dealing with the kid's behavior issues.

Tangential, not on this topic directly:
"...by trying this insane "scared straight" nonsense with an officer who was utterly unqualified and inappropriate for the situation."

Licensing is often derided on this blog. Let this be the example that licensing can, after all, be a GOOD thing, even in the face of the dubious nature of some social counseling, and with full notice that a license is not needed to treat a child fairly.

Well, look at it this way, the young boy just got his therapy, meds, and college paid for by the school district and the police department. . .

> licensing can, after all, be a
> GOOD thing, even in the face of...

Not to quibble, but...

Well, of course to quibble...

Decency is the prime mover, and it's never mechanical.

This story happened a few days ago. Burge was, y'know, licensed. Licensing agencies have to keep their shit together, or paperwork is irrelevant.

There's no mechanical process that makes things go well. Good people make things work, always.

This has been a problem in science in recent years, and I've been collecting stories about it. This one's from last week.

See also, Obamacare. Assuming you want to believe the people behind this monstrosity meant well, which is a stretch, here are my two favorite pieces describing the arrogance of their conniving.

Obamanoids don't think people matter. In Greenfield's wording:

[T]his is a Bloombergian technocracy of billionaires and activists, of people who think that "progress" makes things work, rather than things working leading to progress.

You hit someone; there are consequences. You are never too young to learn that lesson. And if you hit a cop, the consequences just got higher.

Patrick, I'm actually a semi-fan of yours. Most of the time, what you post makes some kind of sense even if I don't completely agree with it. But then, every so often, you go completely off the rails like you have here.

As a parent, as a human, as an Aspie, as a sentient being, I am telling you: there is no possible justification for that action on the part of that police officer. He should be prosecuted, and if that were my child, the only questions remaining would be, "Which attorney represents me?" and "What settlement will we be willing to go for?"

"There's no mechanical process that makes things go well. Good people make things work, always."

I keep coming back here to read these words. They give me heart and help me clear my head. Thank you.

That goes for a lot of the people who comment here, and of course Amy.