Family demands to know why 12-year-old girl was handcuffed for 3 hours in Bronx school

A 12-year-old miss was handcuffed for 3 hours past period astatine a Bronx mediate school and her irate ma says she has yet to get an mentation for the determination from schoolhouse officials.

Christine Henson, 46, told The Daily News she arrived astatine IS 584 connected St. Ann’s Ave. successful the South Bronx connected Nov. 19 arsenic accustomed to prime up her girl aft school.

A schoolhouse authoritative ushered Henson to a country inside. There was her daughter, upset and sitting successful a seat with her hands cuffed down her back. Henson took a photograph and video with her telephone and demanded she beryllium released.

Without explaining wherefore the 6th grader was cuffed, a schoolhouse information cause refused to instantly merchandise her saying the constabulary had to travel with the handcuff key, Henson told The News. The cause physically blocked her from going to basal by her daughter’s side, she said.

“I asked the schoolhouse information officer, ‘Why is she successful handcuffs? Can you delight instrumentality those disconnected of her? She said  ‘She’s not going anywhere,’” Henson recalled.

“My girl was treated similar a criminal. She was truly violated. It doesn’t marque sense.”

Soon aft that, six constabulary officers from the 40th Precinct arrived and the officers concluded since the parent was present, the miss should beryllium released and sent home. The schoolhouse information cause past produced her ain handcuff cardinal and released the girl, according to Henson.

Since then, Henson said she has received nary mentation for the handcuffing from either the Department of Education oregon the NYPD.

Education officials referred The News to the NYPD for comment, saying the usage of restraints is astatine the discretion of police. They declined to reply questions astir the schoolhouse system’s relation successful the incident, citing pupil privacy, but said information transfers are disposable to each families who petition them.

“School and territory enactment is reaching retired to this household to guarantee they person the supports they need, and intelligence wellness and affectional supports are disposable astatine each school,” said nationalist schools spokeswoman Jenna Lyle. “We are taking steps to guarantee that these resources are known to this student.”

The NYPD did not instantly reply to emails.

Data shows that usage of restraints connected children by the authorities successful the metropolis is simply a batch much communal that 1 whitethorn believe. There were 1,049 incidents involving handcuffs during the 2022-23 schoolhouse year, the astir precocious disposable numbers compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The NYCLU survey recovered that astir each – 96% – were incidents involving Black and Hispanic children wherever the constabulary responded but did not marque an arrest, arsenic successful this case.

Roughly 2 successful 10 were due to the fact that a kid was considered ‘in crisis,’ a word for terrible affectional distress, the study said.

“Officers handcuffed Black and Latinx students astatine importantly higher rates than their achromatic peers, particularly successful incidents wherever constabulary were not arresting students and/or wherever nary transgression enactment occurred,” the NYCLU survey found.

The miss told The News she besides didn’t person an mentation for wherefore the schoolhouse information cause handcuffed her.

“It was conscionable retired of nowhere,” the miss told The News. “They did it sneakily. I was confused connected wherefore they did it. It felt terrible. It didn’t consciousness right. They conscionable did it. They didn’t accidental why. Now my wrist hurts.”

The miss went to an urgent attraction doc the pursuing time for symptom to her wrist and neck, Henson said. She has not been taxable of immoderate disciplinary action, her ma said.

The miss has returned to school, but wants to transfer. “I consciousness frightened, I don’t adjacent privation to spell to class,” she said.

On Nov. 22, Henson enactment successful a petition for an contiguous transfer. But an authoritative with District 7, Michael Montes, told her successful an email she had to taxable each the required accusation that day. If she didn’t, the transportation would beryllium postponed until the Fall.

On Wednesday, aft connection began to look the incidental would go public, the schoolhouse erstwhile again raised the transportation option, said Rev. Kevin McCall, a civilian rights activistic assisting the family.

“You nonstop your kid to schoolhouse to larn enough, not to beryllium placed successful handcuffs,” McCall said. “We don’t request the constabulary wrong our schools.”

McCall called connected Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to occurrence the schoolhouse information serviceman and connected Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos to instrumentality action.

Henson said she intends to writer implicit the incident, but has yet to record a claim, she said.

“The schoolhouse conscionable glossed it implicit and expected maine to bypass it arsenic if thing occurred. They privation this to disappear,” Henson said.