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Girl, 12, Taken Away in Handcuffs for Doodling on Her Desk; Dept. of Ed. Admits To Excessive Punishment
Filed under: In The News
Alexa Gonzalez was handcuffed and detained for doodling on her desk with erasable marker. Credit: Bryan Pace, New York Daily News
A 12-year-old girl in New York City was not only suspended Monday, but taken in handcuffs to the police precinct across the street, for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker.
Now, the New York City Department of Education has figured out that the punishment didn't fit the crime.
"The principal made a mistake and the suspension has been lifted," Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education, tells ParentDish in an official statement on Friday
Feinberg adds the girl is back in her classroom and Principal Marilyn Grant is working to make amends with Gonzalez's family.
Gonzalez was doodling her name on her desk at JHS 190 with an erasable marker when adults at the school caught her, slapped handcuffs on her and marched her to the police precinct directly across the street.
Matthew Mittenthal, another spokesman for the Department of Education, confirmed the strange tale was true.
The New York Daily News reported that police didn't know quite how to respond to the request to take the rogue scribbler into custody.
"Even when we're asked to make an arrest, common sense should prevail, and discretion used in deciding whether an arrest or handcuffs are really necessary," police spokesman Paul Browne tells the Daily News.
The trip to the police precinct and suspension were all for doodling "I love my friends Abby and Faith" and "Lex was here. 2/1/10" with a smiley face on her desk.
Gonzalez tells the Daily News she spent several hours at the precinct.
"I started crying, like, a lot," she tells the paper. "I made two little doodles. It could be easily erased. To put handcuffs on me is unnecessary."
Her mother, Moraima Camacho, tells the Daily News her daughter's near-perfect attendance record has been marred by the suspension.
"She's been throwing up," Camacho tells the paper. "The whole situation has been a nightmare."
Gonzalez says she never thought doodling with a lime green marker would get her in so much trouble.
"I just thought I'd get a detention," she adds. "I thought maybe I would have to clean [the desk]."
Even though education officials are investigating, Department of Education spokesman David Cantor tells the Daily News the school's actions were clearly questionable.
"Based on what we've seen so far, this shouldn't have happened," he says.
Other New York students also have been handcuffed for minor infractions, according to the Daily News.
Three years ago, a 13-year-old was arrested for writing "okay" on her desk at Intermediate School 201 in Brooklyn. Two years ago, the Daily News reports, a 5-year-old in Queens was cuffed and sent to a psychiatric ward after throwing a fit in his kindergarten class. Then, last year, a 12-year-old girl was arrested for doodling on her desk at the Hunts Point School in the Bronx.
A class action lawsuit was filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union just weeks ago against New York City for using "excessive force" in middle and high schools.
"This should be a wake-up call to the mayor, the city council and the Department of Education," Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, says on the organization's Web site.
"There is a crisis in our schools because they put the police in charge of routine discipline that ought to be handled by educators," she adds. "We all want safe schools, but that means that our children must be kept safe by those assigned to protect them."
Even though she is no longer suspended, Gonzalez still went to family court Tuesday where she was assigned eight hours of community service and a book report. She also has to write an essay about she she learned through all this.
"I definitely learned not to ever draw on a desk," she tells the Daily News.
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ReaderComments (Page 8 of 8)
2-07-2010 @ 12:30AM
ann said...the teacher should've just made her clean her desk and any others that needed it, after class, as her punishment. handcuffs? a trip to the police station? waayyy over the top. i am really glad i am not in school with these zero tolerance nazis today. i was a good, well behaved student, but between the overzealous punishments and the teachers, male and female, seducing/molesting their students... it's a scary place to be.
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2-07-2010 @ 4:17AM
Michelle said...Alexis, You have to report him....it the little explanation mark in the upper right hand corner of his comment. More than just one of us has to click it...I already did...the rest of you need to as well.
Joseph Stalin's comment proves the point perfectly....He is what the schools should be worried about cuffing!
The girl should have to clean the desk and the rest of the others in the class and serve lunch or after school detention...not wasting the NYPD's time....they are too busy with the Joseph Stalins in the world!
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2-08-2010 @ 4:31AM
Hunter0403 said...First off, I know someone out there is gonna go and bash this comment. Second, They need to get that principal some medication, he obviously has something wrong with his head. Third, They sent a KINDERGARTENER to a friggin ward? New Yorkers, Never will understand 'em, and I don't think I want to, based on what I see here.
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2-07-2010 @ 9:19AM
ancient00 said...As I said yesterday, This could well be a very elaborate conspricy
[[ several persons involved ] to get this young woman on the Oprah show.
After exposure on Oprah she is almost sure to get modeling offers,she is very photo genic, just a coincidece I am sure [[HA ].
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2-07-2010 @ 11:08AM
Mary Beth said...I am an educator. People of all ages doodle on things, whether it be a desk, a book, the bathroom stall, etc. Does that make it correct? No. But to put a 12 year old girl thru thr trauma of handcuffs and being hauled out of her classroom over to the police station is WAY OVER THE TOP!! Our jobs as educators is to EDUCATE the student. Unfortunately, many families leave the education of all areas of life up to the school system. So, this would have been the perfect time to discuss defacing and what it really means (not erasable markers!!), what the consequences can be, and the choices that should be made. Guess that would be teaching right from wrong. Oh, yeah the stuff parents should have been teaching since the child was a toddler. The girl in this story should have a consequence for her actions--detention or just simply clean off the desk.
I have to ask myself why things like this happen when there are some really horrible events and people out in society. They never seem to get caught, handcuffed, or see the inside of a police station. Something is wrong. Is it too late to fix it??
Joseph Stalin you are a sick individual. The girl is 12 years old and you are making comments about how hot she is!?!?!????
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2-07-2010 @ 1:23PM
Bell said...This is not OK !
Parents pull your kids out of these schools and home school or form
neighborhood co op education - take the tax dollars away from these
nut cases - children are precious and are the future - What parent would drop their child off at any of these schools after reading this ?
Dept of education or dept of corrections ? a five year old trowing a fit is normal ! call the parent and have the parent decide if the child needs a shrink !
Parent get your children out of there !! Children have a right to a safe
school and to be protected from abuse ! This is ABUSE !
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2-07-2010 @ 3:07PM
Jerry said...WTF? When I was a kid going to school (Late 50's-early 60's), all the desks had writing on them. Some of it was more like engraving it was so deep. It gave the desk character, a sense of history. so many adult wacko's loose in the school systems now I am so glad that I am not a kid today...The geography teacher had a paddle, and if you were a person of distinction you got to sign it....not go to jail....
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2-07-2010 @ 3:49PM
Karen said...How outrageous!! Let's pick our battles. Handcuffs weren't at all necessary. An explanation of why such an act isn't permitted, have the student clean the desk and move on. Was she distracting the class? Such actions by a teacher for such a small incident are why kids leave school and don't care.
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2-07-2010 @ 4:29PM
mickey97 said...What the heck? erasable. it comes off! cuffing her! thats bull crap!Are you going to give me oss (out of school suspension) for breaking the lead on a pencil that someone lent me? BULL SHIT!
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2-08-2010 @ 12:38AM
therealaviddiva said...This has got to be the worse excuse in the world to put handcuffs on a child. Everyone doodles on their desk. I've seen college students write essays on their desks. Don't worry Alexa. You're so pretty that this publicity will work in your favor.
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2-09-2010 @ 12:31PM
mark said...I think this little girl drifted off in boredomness, she should not have been sent to the police through arrest.
Where is sanity in the teaching proffesion reached? she probably feels that she can no longer trust her teachers, as well as, the police. Where has detention gone? this is worse than being caned, the way I was for the same thing.
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2-11-2010 @ 8:24PM
sweetchildren41 said...are you kidding me? this is totally ridiculous. I've doodled on desks hundreds of times...and never even got a detention. I honestly have no idea what this world is coming to if a 12 year old is handcuffed for doodling. And the 5 year old in a psych ward for throwing a tantrum...come on
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2-09-2010 @ 9:06PM
sbhappe34 said...That was quite a long message the child wrote. Wasn't she paying attention in class for all the time it took her to write it. We don't know all the story about the childs class room behavior until now. Only defense parent has is near perfect attendance. What is near perfect attendance to mother? No she should not be writing on the desk. Is it the first time? I'm sorry there is more to the story then what we are told.
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2-10-2010 @ 5:25AM
Elizabeth said...Stop The Foolish Argument, Use Your Energy Rather To Do Something Good.
DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU!
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2-12-2010 @ 5:25PM
eric6161 said...She should be glad she's not a muslim in Iran... she wouldn't even be able to go to school...and if she did she would have gotten 100 lashes with a whip.
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2-15-2010 @ 5:53PM
krista said...How do you people know she is spoiled? And where does it say she got no punishment, because from what I read she was embarassed in front of the entire school and assigned 8 hours of community service.
I think that it is wrong what they did, it was an ERASEABLE marker. That means you can just wipe it off with water. She should have gotten a detention, yes, but none of this should have happened to her.
Those of you acting like 5 year olds on this comment board need to grow up and get a life, and stop hating on little twelve year old girls just because you're angry at your own lives.
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3-01-2010 @ 3:11PM
Jim said...... I am not sure if I am more stunned at the audacity laid out in the article or that there are commenters who think this is appropriate behavior for school officials (or any adult for that matter).
I would expect handcuffs if she had taken a marker and started stabbing people with it, but writing on a desk? Handcuffing and taking the police station is a gross waste of the school's time and the resources of the police station. Not to mention a waste of tax dollars.
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4-15-2010 @ 11:42PM
fredom1ride2 said...School officials, NYPD, I know have their jobs to do and maybe they did think at the moment that they was acting in a correct and justifiable manner. But to do this to a child! No I think I'll take back what I just said, any adult regardless of who they are police, principals, teachers, all should be mindful that they are dealing with kids and not grownups. you just don't go into a school and handcuff a 12 year old and for something so trivia and guileless. it wasn't like she was using a permanent marker, if this was so then I guess she could have been charged with intentional vandalism, but even in a case like that I don't think it would be right to go to the extreme as did by the nypd.what is this world coming to when we snatch our kids out of school handcuffed, then parade them in front of friends and peers. When years and decades has passed, and by some remote chance this child starts to rebel (something I hope won't happen) against school officials, police & and other authoritative figures and you ask, where is this behavior coming from? think of that day back in 2010 when you traumatized this child by taking her out of school in handcuffs and detaining her for over two hours for simply doodling on a desk and you might find your answer. I know that vandalism by some of our youths is a ongoing problem and one that we as a society must address, I'm also aware that some type of punishment have to be meted out but hauling a child off from school shackled in handcuffs like a common criminal is wrong and you can't tell me that it's not
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6-17-2010 @ 6:27PM
Winerbabies said...its like this - like a union envirornment - you - as the supervisor - might want to be reasonable a a worker some slack for violating a given rule because of their otherwise good work or due to the circumstances - but you cant - because the first time you bend the rules for one - you have to - its precidence - for every screw up and dirt bag as well as the good ones - so you have to be by the book - to the letter of the rules/contract every single time
same thing at school - the kids are out of fricken control so you used to be able to take a paddle and give a couple of butt smacks and stand them in the corner for an infraction but now you cant give that kind of punishment and have to have police in the school for the teachers/administrators/ and students safety - so then dont wonder why a crime but a child is still treated like a crime - we may want to treat it - like - oh its only a kid and kids will be kids - but they themselves have created the need for more stringent and strick dicipline - now deal with it
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