Georgia School Slaps Handcuffs on 6-Year-Old Student

The mother of a first grade student has expressed outrage at a Georgia school’s decision last week to place her 6-year-old son in handcuffs.

Lakaisha Reid said she found her son, a special needs student at Pine Ridge Elementary school, kneeling on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back, Yahoo! News reports.

“The first thing I said was ‘Get those handcuffs off my kid,’ Reid said. She said the handcuffs appeared to have bruised her son’s wrists.

(Read more: Why Are 40,000 Children So Harshly Disciplined in Public Schools?)

The school defended its decision to restrain her son, arguing that his behavior posed a risk to himself and other students.

“For approximately one hour, the student was scratching, kicking and hitting school personnel and continued to exhibit violent behavior, running into walls, banging his head on tables and placing his health at risk,” read a statement from Dekalb County School District.

[Yahoo!]