she's in Fell's Point.

We are few, but we exist!

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[link]

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.”

Is ita around? Maybe she can tell us what percentage of Krav training is devoted to defense against 6-year-olds....

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My mother works at an elementary school and she tells me all kinds of horror stories about the kids, so it's not like I'm under the impression that they're all little angels.

But dude, seriously, if it's a felony for a six-year-old to be cranky, I'm in big trouble.

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WRT the kindergartner:

My friend G, who taught pre school for years and then became a K-1 teacher, called the cops on a kid. This child had taken a safety pin and was poking other kids in the back repeatedly and then took scissors and stabbed her hand. When she called the mom to pick up the kid, the mom refused and so she called the police.

I'm not sure how much info the Slate reporter got versus the bare bones of what the posted report says, but there are instances where I'd call the cops too. And it has to do with the safety of the other students and myself.

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A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters, like Desre’e, are black.

I am not surprised. Really. I'm trying to imagine my kids doing anything at that age that would have resulted in the school calling the cops and aside from pulling out a weapon (a real weapon), I can't come up with anything.

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.

Oh, what a criminal element -- riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk. Excuse me, I can't type well when my eyeballs have rolled all the way across the room.

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Maybe she can tell us what percentage of Krav training is devoted to defense against 6-year-olds....

Well, aside from the warning that a bratty 6 year old with a knife will probably cut you before you get it away...it doesn't come up. And even that's to make the point of how much more an actual adult with adult motivations is likely to be dangerous to you.

The quote is stupid and I hope he's looking back at it and wishing...well, he's an idiot. What's he going to wish that'd make me happy?

Shoulder feels better this morning, like it has most mornings (jobless I'd have been strung out on muscle relaxants all day, but mornings are best) this week. Massage at noon. Massage at noon.

I think the nerve block is still at least partially in effect, because last time the shoulder hurt this badly it was a 6mg Dilaudin visit, plus Valium for the shoulder.

So...would a semi-permanent burgundy dye likely show nothing at all in my hair?

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riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk

On a people are stupid note:

In Pasadena last week or the week before (can't remember) we were driving towards the hospital on a major road and a grown woman was on a vespa. On the sidewalk. She almost lost control of the Vespa, forcing it and her out into the intersection, when she stopped to hit the crosswalk light.

Um, honey, vespa's require a motorcycle license. WTF? WHY ARE YOU NOT ON THE STREET WITH THE REST OF THE MOTORIZED VEHICLES! Sidewalks = for pedestrians not scooters.

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It's one of those stories where I wonder if there is something missing. It just sounds too insane to be true. How could a school not be prepared to handle a kindergarten tantrum?

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It's one of those stories where I wonder if there is something missing.

Yep. ITA.

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Statistics....

More than 4,500 kids aged 11 and under were charged with crimes in the state of Florida in the year 2000. Many were arrested more than once. Kids as young as seven spend the night in detention centers and kids as young as 10 can be sent away for a year or more. In certain cases, children have entered the justice system at the age of three, such as the preschool arson suspect who went through a pretrial diversion in Florida at this age.

[link]

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