I came across this on BuzzFeed today and I’d like to know what you would do, had this been your child?

I don’t know the whole story but the officer makes reference to this little kid with ADHD and behavioral issues related to a trauma, taking a swing at him. If that’s the case, that’s clearly unacceptable behavior and I would hope we could all agree on that.

That being said, just watching this video disturbs me on many levels.

This kid is in 3rd grade (8 years old) and has ADHD (which doesn’t excuse behavioral issues but it explains them and should absolutely impact our approach to dealing with them). He was handcuffed behind his back at his biceps, which would likely be painful and was left in this position for 15 minutes.

According the the ACLU, which has filed suit, this little boy was traumatized, among other things.

Apparently there was a second child handcuffed in the same manner as well at a different time.  The little girl was handcuffed at her biceps, behind her back and made to knee on the floor for 30 minutes.

What I don’t understand is why this officer took that approach in the first place? You can’t seriously believe this deputy felt that an 8 year old posed a physical threat to his life. This kid has a disability that causes behavioral issues.

I have three kids with Autism, two of which have ADHD as well. While I don’t blame them for their behavioral challenges, they are still held accountable for their choices, within reason of course. My point is that I’m all for holding kids responsible for their actions but what could this kid have possibly done to warrant this type of excessive response from the officer?

It’s not like this kid brought a gun to school and tried to shoot someone and the officer intervened and made an arrest.

I absolutely respect law enforcement. They do a job that most of us couldn’t and they do it at their own person risk. They never know what they are going to walk into and much like our men and woman in uniform, they keep us safe and don’t get nearly the credit or respect they deserve.

I don’t believe that this officer represents what most police officers do for our country on a daily basis. That being said, I absolutely believe this deputy exceeded what anyone with commonsense would believe was appropriate force. Maybe he was having a bad day or thought he was teaching this kid a lesson. Either way, this shouldn’t have happened and I doubt that any information will come out that could possibly justify this guys actions…

What would you do if this was your child? Do you agree with the law suit or do you side with the officer and why?