Kindergarten Girl Charged with Felony

A 6 year old kindergartener was handcuffed, arrested, fingerprinted, charged with a felon and sent to jail. Her crime? She had a temper tantrum at school. According to the news report, Desre Watson disrupted the class with a temper tantrum. When she would not calm down, stop crying or leave the room the police were called. Seems she threw chairs and hit a second teacher who came to help the first teacher handle the situation. Columnist, Bob Herbert, spoke to the Avon Park, Florida police chief, Frank Mercurio. Evidently arresting 6 year olds is common practice there.

There are several definitions of the word felony. Most common is: "One of several grave crimes, such as murder, rape, or burglary, punishable by a more stringent sentence than that given for a misdemeanor" or "characterized under federal law and many state statutes as any offense punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year." Is having a temper tantrum now considered a felony? If so, many pro-sports figures seem to be getting away with committing them.

A tantrum is about control. A baby hungry baby cries to get fed. If the demand for nourishment is not met, the baby learns to howl more. As the baby grows and tries to learn to do simple chores, it may become frustrated and, in anger have a "temper tantrum". Something gets thrown. Adults do this too. Think: road rage. The baby has no control over when it will get fed. The toddler lacks the skills to control actions needed to do simple tasks like pick up a fork. Fussy parents who expect too much, too soon from a child will tend to add to the child's frustration. An adult has no control over the rude driver that just cut them off or slowness of traffic jams. Anger over something a baby, child, adult can not control is what sets off a fit of temper.

Babies learn to manipulate their parents early on. They do this to get their basic needs met. If they learn that they will have to cry for 20 minutes every time they are hungry or to get their diaper changed, this is what they learn to do. "If I cry for 20 minutes I can get my parents attention and get what I want", is the logic. This is also where behavior problems begin. The toddler soon wants things that are not basic needs, such as a candy bar. When they hear "no", the crying begins. Or they have a "temper tantrum". The easiest way to nip this behavior in the bud, is to distract the child. Giving into the demanding child will reinforce what they learned as a baby. Again the issue is control. Children do learn to control their parents using bad behavior and temper fits.

Most parents are successful in teaching children appropriate behavior by the time they are ready for school. I come from a large family and have dealt with many 6 year old children. Children that have behavior problems are usually living in a chaotic household. There may be domestic abuse and violence in the home. The others have been spoiled by parents or grandparents. Remember that word control? A kindergarten child may be away from home without the parents or siblings for the very first time. The experience is new and can be scary. There are new rules to follow. The child has absolutely no control of the events of the day. S/he may become frustrated or angry and rebel by having a tantrum. The overly pampered or spoiled child is used to being the center of attention. Sharing the stage with other children. They also use temper tantrums to control the environment.

The news stories about Desre Watson do not give enough information. Had she been regularly disrupting the class with tantrums? What precipitated the tantrum? Once it began the teachers did not effectively handle the child. As a room mother I often attended school parties. The class terror acted up, but not for long. This young boy spent a lot of time in the principal's office. His mother asked me what I did because I was the first person that made him behave. I did not do anything special. I simply told him his behavior was unacceptable and I would not tolerate it. If he wanted to participate in the class party, he had to accept "me boss, you child" and he did. That boy continued to have behavioral problems. The only time he did not have temper tantrums was when I was in the classroom. Strange. I am by no means an expert, but I have calmed down many a child.

The first thing to do is to stoop or kneel and look the child in the eye. Imagine if Shaquille O'Neil was towering over you barking orders. You might feel threatened. That is how adults look to small children. Some kids might behave out of fear. Others might fight back. I do not envy a teacher their job. It is hard to keep order in a room full of children who have natural energy and curiosity. One child's temper tantrum does disrupt the class. I did not witness what happened prior to Desre's escalated tantrum. I do however think there is something terribly wrong with treating a 6 year old like a criminal. They do not have the capacity to know what a crime is. A child who commits a heinous act such as rape or murder has a mental disorder or psychological problem. They are not felons. In Desre's case I think the adults involved are at fault.