Handcuff and sedate- yes it's all legal

 Handcuff and sedate- Yes it's all legal

An emergency petition filed by a teacher or a school staff member could land a child in an ambulance, medically sedated, and handcuffed on his way to an ER.  In fact, the Maryland’s largest school systems have done this to children 1,500 times since 2021.   And if you think that’s a lot, Wicomico County Public Schools, one of the smallest districts in Maryland, was having officers handcuff and take kids to the ER on average of 3 times a week in 2023.  There are approximately 15,000 students in Wicomico County.

Emergency petitions are often filed against kids on the autism spectrum who are not getting the services they need and, therefore, act out.  One seven-year-old student who was diagnosed with autism had an emergency petition filed against him because he was throwing Legos in the classroom and would not stop with a verbal command.  His IEP called for a 1:1.  He didn’t have one.  Law enforcement and a social worker called for police to take him to the ER with an emergency petition.  At the hospital, the physician makes the call whether the child should have an involuntary commitment to a psychiatric treatment facility or go home with a parent.   It is not unusual for panicked kids to become more aggressive when placed in the police car or ambulance.  EMT’s can administer sedation drugs and/or handcuff children.

Maryland does not require the collection of data as to how often these events occur.  But when Baltimore City public schools started tracking the occurrences the number of petitions dropped by 60%.  In Washington County public schools, another small school district in Maryland, roughly half of the children cuffed and taken to the ER by police deputies were 10 or younger.   The youngest a 6-year-old girl.  It takes handcuffs and deputies to calm down little children?!  What scars does this leave?  The 7-year-old was taken to the to see his pediatrician after the event and told his physician that he had to come to the doctor because “I am a bad boy”  AT 7??!!!!

A bill was entered into the Maryland legislature this last session to require that school districts keep data on the number of these events.   It never got out of committee.  Maybe someone should have requested an emergency petition.