By now you’ve all seen the horrific video, and I would like to dissect it from the standpoint of educational best practices, but first, let’s lay out the facts.
1. According to Sheriff Lott the student was disruptive and non-compliant (NBC News).
2. According to Sheriff Lott, the officer placed the student under arrest (NBC News).
3. The officer in the video clearly grabs the female student by the neck and throws her across the room.
Now, let’s talk school safety procedures and best practices.
1. When a student is disruptive and/or non-compliant, it is commonplace to call a security guard or school resource officer to escort the student out of the classroom to the discipline office. According to page 41 of the school’s handbook (https://www.richland2.org/...), violations listed as “disruptive behavior” and “refusal to obey” carry the consequence of detention or in-school suspension. The only two behaviors listed in the handbook that can result in arrest are 1) fighting and 2) verbal confrontation, neither of which the sheriff alleged the student had committed.
Best practices: If a student is refusing to obey a teacher or officer’s directive, rephrase the directive as a choice. For instance, the teacher or officer might calmly say to the student, “You have a choice. You can either come with me to the office to talk about your disruptive behavior or you can continue to sit here, and your refusal to comply will add more days to your suspension.” At no point should they invade the student’s personal space as that will only escalate the situation. They must wait for the student to comply. They should consider calling the school counselor or other professionals trained in dealing with students with emotional disorders.
2. In the case of fighting and/or verbal confrontation inside a classroom, it is again commonplace to call a security guard or resource officer. The student(s) may be placed under arrest, but in most cases because of a refusal to stop fighting.
Best practices: If a student and/or students begin a fight or verbal confrontation inside a classroom, the teacher should order all students to exit the room immediately for their own safety. The teacher should have a responsible student call security/the school resource officer and then should attempt by any reasonable measure to de-escalate the situation.
3. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education urged states to “revise their state policies and guidelines to ensure that every student in every school under its jurisdiction is safe and protected from being unnecessarily or inappropriately restrained or secluded,” (http://www2.ed.gov/...). In other words, educational leadership has been looking carefully at what should be deemed acceptable when it comes to restraining a student.
Best practices: If it is necessary to physically intervene and lay hands on a student or students in order to maintain the safety of others, it should be done in the least harmful way possible.
My point here is to refute the commentators who claim we need to see the events preceding the clip to make a judgment about the officer’s actions. No, we positively do not. The student in question was neither a danger to herself nor any other student in the classroom as is clearly visible from the fact that all the other students are sitting calmly in their chairs. The officer clearly grabs the female student by the neck, which is potentially one of the most dangerous ways one could attempt to restrain a child–an act that should never even happen unless the child is a danger to himself/herself or those around him/her.
In conclusion, the officer’s actions are egregious and inexcusable. The officer violated the most sacred promise a school makes to its students, which is to keep them safe.