School commits 6-year-old to Psych Ward after drawing picture of violent video game

[Denny347]

A lot of cops are afraid not to do an Immediate Detention for fear of being sued.

Actually, the reverse is true. We ID someone who is suicidal as a CYA...let the doctor send them home and when they do kill themselves or someone else, they can only blame the doctor...not us. Can you imagine the storm if we responded to a mental/emotional case and did nothing. Then they either killed themselves or someone else. We would be tied up in Federal Court for years as to why we did nothing to help.

 

[turnandshoot4]

Actually, the reverse is true. We ID someone who is suicidal as a CYA...let the doctor send them home and when they do kill themselves or someone else, they can only blame the doctor...not us. Can you imagine the storm if we responded to a mental/emotional case and did nothing. Then they either killed themselves or someone else. We would be tied up in Federal Court for years as to why we did nothing to help.

Yep, they come in all the time. Too bad though, they want to die. Who are we to tell them anything different?

I sent one home that I felt shouldn't have gone home. I documented the crap out of it and sent him on his way. Nothing I could do.

 

[public servant]

Yep, they come in all the time. Too bad though, they want to die. Who are we to tell them anything different?

I'm good with it as long as the legal settlement doesn't come out of my pocket.

 

[turnandshoot4]

A six-year-old student was strapped in an ambulance and sent from school to a psychiatric ward, after his teacher caught him drawing a picture of a violent video game. He was forced to be committed for 72-hours in a mental hospital.

The article says he misses his dad who is serving in the Army overseas. He has been in therapy and wrote that he wanted to die.



L.A School Child Forced Into Psych Ward

Good for the school. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. When some kid goes nuts people ask why they didn't see the "hints". When they do something the child gets "committed" for 72 hours.

Sensationalism at it's worst. EVERYONE gets "strapped" into an ambulance. It's for your saftey. You are on a bed WITH WHEELS. While the bed is locked, it is also small and easy to fall out of.

72 hours is not committed. If you say you are going to kill yourself they can hold you for up to 72 hours for observation.

Personally I think you should be able to kill yourself. But not a child. They have alot of life ahead of them. Especially not a 6 year old. Mom can't be doing that great of a job, the kid wants to kill himself.

 

[turnandshoot4]

I'm good with it as long as the legal settlement doesn't come out of my pocket.

Oh, I totally agree. You have to CYA.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Good for the school. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. When some kid goes nuts people ask why they didn't see the "hints". When they do something the child gets "committed" for 72 hours.

Sensationalism at it's worst. EVERYONE gets "strapped" into an ambulance. It's for your saftey. You are on a bed WITH WHEELS. While the bed is locked, it is also small and easy to fall out of.

72 hours is not committed. If you say you are going to kill yourself they can hold you for up to 72 hours for observation.

Personally I think you should be able to kill yourself. But not a child. They have alot of life ahead of them. Especially not a 6 year old. Mom can't be doing that great of a job, the kid wants to kill himself.

Agreed, it's not like we have a shortage of people or workforce or anything.....I also think that these mandatory tests they require of newborns in hospitals now are ridiculous, it's not like we have a shortage of genetically deficient people contaminating the gene pool or anything.

 

[ihateiraq]

Personally I think you should be able to kill yourself. But not a child. They have alot of life ahead of them. Especially not a 6 year old. Mom can't be doing that great of a job, the kid wants to kill himself.

end of thread.

 

[public servant]

it's not like we have a shortage of genetically deficient people contaminating the gene pool or anything.

*Amen!!




*Strictly in a non-religious kind of way

 

[rjstew317]

it's not like we have a shortage of genetically deficient people contaminating the gene pool or anything.

just because I'm from West Virgina, doesn't me I have an uncle daddy....

 

[ThrottleJockey]

My reason for the comment was that the pharm companies WANT us to all be genetically deficient and thus DEPENDANT upon their goods. Nothing is better for their business than a world populated entirely by those that require their goods for survival.

 

[turnandshoot4]

You don't NEED tylenol, you WANT it.

You don't NEED xanax, you want it.

Same goes for most mood/pain meds.

You NEED lisinopril.

You NEED penicillin.

You NEED albuterol.

 

[Bunnykid68]

If that were my child I would probably be going to jail for something I am sure. The really terrifying part is that someone can make a call and say I am drinking and have a gun and they are worried about me, whether it is true or not, and come place me in custody.

 

[turnandshoot4]

If that were my child I would probably be going to jail for something I am sure. The really terrifying part is that someone can make a call and say I am drinking and have a gun and they are worried about me, whether it is true or not, and come place me in custody.

Wrong. Police can use thier judgement. If they show up and your eyes are red, you are crying, smell like booze then yea, you are going in.

 

[LPMan59]

If that were my child I would probably be going to jail for something I am sure. The really terrifying part is that someone can make a call and say I am drinking and have a gun and they are worried about me, whether it is true or not, and come place me in custody.

this is the same problem i have with PC for searches.

"i smelled weed." there is no way to prove he didn't smell it. Now I am not starting a fight. And I don't believe that LEOs do that stuff (I'm sure some jackass somewhere has), but it's the idea that it could happen.

same thing with divorces. all she has to do is call and say he's crazy and has a gun.

 

[level.eleven]

So, the way the state agents responded to a student who they know has issues is by calling the police, having an ambulance roll up to the school, strapping the kid a stretcher, roll him out to the ambulance, and commit him for 72 hours. Now, we expect the already emotionally confused child to just blend right back into to school and have normal relationships with his classmates. And we wonder why more public commentary is coming to light on the Public School to Prison Pipeline.

Addressing a couple of other comments in the thread. A child, age 6, simply isn't capable of understanding suicide. The mind hasn't developed enough to understand the finality of death, let alone pursue it against themselves. They think a man comes down a chimney and gives them presents. It's also important to note, he said "I want to die", not "I want to kill myself".

Finally, several have said that if you want to kill yourself you should be allowed, but not if you are six. Since six is a no go, at what age can you kill yourself?

Zero tolerance has destroyed schooling. John W. Whitehead: Zero Tolerance Schools Discipline Without Wiggle Room

There's an old axiom that what children learn in school today will be the philosophy of government tomorrow. As surveillance cameras, metal detectors, police patrols, zero tolerance policies, lock downs, drug sniffing dogs and strip searches become the norm in elementary, middle and high schools across the nation, America is on a fast track to raising up an Orwellian generation -- one populated by compliant citizens accustomed to living in a police state and who march in lockstep to the dictates of the government. In other words, the schools are teaching our young people how to be obedient subjects in a totalitarian society.

 

[Denny347]

I ID'ed a 10yr old at an IPS elementary school. He was trying to throw himself off the 2nd story balcony...not his first time either. I guess he was totally out of control with all the teachers trying to restrain him. IPS PD was not available so I was called there. They could not get a hold of mom so the principal acts as guardian until mom could be located. They wanted him to go to Community North Hospital but they were afraid to drive him themselves as he would try to jump out of the car while it was moving. This kid had serious emotional problems, not uncommon in my neck of the hood. I'm pretty good with kids and he actually responded to me talking to him very well. He did not give me any problems and I drove him to the hospital like we were buddies and stayed with him until the principal arrived. Sometimes kids DO need to go to the hospital for an evaluation. This kid knew what he was doing. There are lots of kids around here with DEEP emotional scars and act out accordingly.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

I ID'ed a 10yr old at an IPS elementary school. He was trying to throw himself off the 2nd story balcony...not his first time either. I guess he was totally out of control with all the teachers trying to restrain him. IPS PD was not available so I was called there. They could not get a hold of mom so the principal acts as guardian until mom could be located. They wanted him to go to Community North Hospital but they were afraid to drive him themselves as he would try to jump out of the car while it was moving. This kid had serious emotional problems, not uncommon in my neck of the hood. I'm pretty good with kids and he actually responded to me talking to him very well. He did not give me any problems and I drove him to the hospital like we were buddies and stayed with him until the principal arrived. Sometimes kids DO need to go to the hospital for an evaluation. This kid knew what he was doing. There are lots of kids around here with DEEP emotional scars and act out accordingly.

While I agree that in the case of a "jumper", the reaction to detain a child is warranted and is for their own good... this is because they pose an immediate threat to their own safety.

Calling an EMS and having a child taken for "observation" over a picture and because he claims he "wants to die" is a little drastic.

It is obvious to any rational mind that this child would not be committed, and does not pose immediate threat to himself or others... so why create this situation? Seeking help yes... like the mother said, she would immediately take her son to see his own therapist. His own therapist would be the one that it sounds like had already diagnosed him with separation anxiety, and is likely more equipped to help him due to his prior knowledge of the situation. In the end, this likely set back the child's therapy.

While I understand the importance of identifying and seeking help for trouble youth, situations such as this one easily get out of hand when people react too strongly. I am willing to bet this school, and teachers in it, will not take this course of action in the future.

 

[LPMan59]

the mother of this child is set to be on Fox and Friends in about 5 minutes

 

[CSK22]

1. Its California........ the moment I saw "LA" I rolled my eyes and said of course

2.

For all those who may not be aware, teachers are what as known as "mandated reporters," (as are psychotherapists, which I am, and psychiatrists, psychologists, etc) which means that if us mandated reporters have direct contact with a client/student during the course of our jobs, who is expressing homicidal (threat to hurt others) or suicidal (threat to himself) ideation through words, pictures, etc, they have to assess the situation and decide whether to contact the Psychiatric Medical Response Team (PMRT). PMRT decides if a child is a threat to self or others, not the teacher...NOT LAUSD...and if PMRT so decides, they can then hospitalize without consent for 72 hours in a psychiatric hospital, and then the hospital psychiatrist reassesses the situation to determine whether the person has stabilized and can be released...this is for the safety of the person.

According to one of the comments apparently teachers are entitled to be doctors....... I don't think there's another career out there that I can't stand the staff of more then teachers and doctors anyway, it makes sense, never have I met a group of people so arrogant about what they do.

3.

If anything, this is another example of the War on Boys and the continuing pathologizing all things masculine. A 6 year old saying he wants to kill himself shouldn't be sneezed at, but it's also a freaking 6 year old so there's some context there. In other words he may have no idea what he's even talking about and is just verbalizing his feelings, not making an actual threat of suicide.

Furthermore, all of this jumping to conclusions crap has got to stop!

^^I also found this comment interesting.......


4.

Poor kid,the picture was his way of asking for help,help he wasn't getting at home,.obviouslyWhen your child says they have a problem sit down and talk to them.Instead of just sending them off to school.It may mean you have to do something instead of whatever you have planned,but it could save your kids life.If you don't listen,someone else will,and you may end up losing them.

Do I think its important to talk to your kids about how they feel? Of course , but stupid crap happens, this same thing happened to one of my coworkers sons(although not all the way to a hospital), my coworker was going through a divorce and the wife kept reporting "my son is trying to cut his wrists because my husband is so mean" ...well my coworker wouldn't smash a spider under his shoe to save his own life, and how does a six year old know how to slit his wrists?

I'm sorry but if a young child is acting out....they probly are just trying to get attention.