Yajira Quezada, 11-Year-Old, Handcuffed For Being Rude (VIDEO)

When Yajira Quezada copped an attitude, police put her in cuffs.

An Adams County, Colo. Sheriff's Office incident report obtained by KUSA says the Shaw Heights Middle School 11-year-old was handcuffed and taken to a holding facility because she was, "argumentative and extremely rude" to an assistant principal.

"Why would they handcuff me?" Quezada asked KUSA. "I'm not the type of girl to get arrested."

The Sheriff's office said it was just following normal procedure.

The story is reminiscent of Newscore's report on an Indiana middle school girl who was literally handcuffed over spilled milk.

And just last week, a parent in North Carolina claimed her autistic son was restrained via handcuffs at a New Hanover County school, according to WECT.

Comments

[glkhicks]

02:34 PM on 04/18/2012

To the person who commented about my "race issues . . . " I do NOT have race issues, my friend! I love all people . . . White, black, red, yellow, brown, etc. It is bad attitutudes that I have a problem with and I saw more than my share of them when I was a substitute teacher in my local public school system which is supposed to be the best in my state. Children need to respect authority . . . End of story!

[Reality-2011]

08:09 PM on 03/09/2012

Let's see - who is it that wants to make everyone feel "entitled" to everything that does't conflict with the liberal agenda? Oh, yeah, liberals.

[kingston401]

03:28 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 1
If this happened in the 60s, she may have been smacked or paddled and sent back to class – problem solved between 10 seconds and 3 min. Back then, the school authorities were allowed to touch the student.
Today even school principals or teachers in many districts aren’t allowed to touch a student unless assaulted or a threat to others. If the teacher tells a student to go to the office and they refuse, the teacher can't drag them there; consequently, the teacher must call the office and an administrator must pick up the kid. This is happening because of parental/political pressures in the educational system created conditions that result in situations like this. Brats/discipline problems tie up enormous amounts of learning time. The brats’ parents don’t care about anything except what they think are their “rights”. An 11-year-old who mouths-off at an ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL has probably misbehaved before. Disrespect has to be learned and I think this girl has probably been practicing for a while.
Here’s how a 10 second disciplinary act involving one person in the 1960s turned into a three+ person event that probably covered several hours in 2012 (including paperwork).

[cigi]

12:48 PM on 03/09/2012

F&F! You hit all the nails on the head Kingston. I graduated from high school in 1964, and you know if I had pulled anything like this in school, I not only would have gotten paddled in school, but my Dad would have taken it up as I walked in the door that day! Teachers today are burdened with not only "trying" to teach our kids, but also do the discipline that their parents will not deal with them. I would bet this child is as mouthy to her parents as she was to the authorities in this situation. Many children today are allowed to throw out their opinions, be it reasonable or even relevant, by parents who are so busy trying to work and keep up with a lifestyle that they miss the big point...their kids need guidance on manners and how to live in polite society without hurting others, with their words or deeds.

[kingston401]

03:28 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 2
In essence, the 11-year-old forced an intervention with the assistant principal! Interventions, as I know it, happened between two students – not between an assistant principal and a student. The assistant principal shouldn’t have allowed this to happen.
He should have proceeded to the next disciplinary step without the guidance counselor or any intervention because: 1) this is a misuse of intervention and it dilutes the assistant principal’s authority and 2) the vast majority of counselors do not want to participate in disciplinary procedures because it’s contrary to their "job description". They are supposed to be at a person to whom a student can approach with their problems and be "trusted" with personal information. That trust can be breached when the counselor participates in disciplinary actions—in fact, I think it may be on one of the counselor manifestos—a counselor no-no. At this point this kid has tied up two people i.e. a counselor and assistant principal for probably half an hour or more and the problem still isn't solved.

[kingston401]

03:27 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 3
To many people, in school suspension seems like a viable option but misbehavior costs money, adds to future problems, creates logistical problems within the school and essentially is worthless. The punishment consists of busy work for the kid (yes I know the teacher supposed to provide an appropriate lesson but the teacher has 30 other kids to worry about and yet has to create a detention room lesson for an insolent kid—the mother of all insults).
If we use in school suspension, we need a detention room and we’re already short of classrooms. We have to create a detention room from a class room and then staff it with a teacher (teaching aids probably couldn't perform this duty).
So now, a qualified teacher has to watch a bunch of jerks while other teacher’s class sizes grow to absorb the lost classroom that was used for detention room. The teacher on detention may not be teaching his subject anymore so their kids are put in other classes and that results in larger class sizes for the rest of the teachers – not to mention the fact that the detention teacher may not be teaching his subject anymore.

[kingston401]

03:27 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 4
At this point the end result is that one brat has tied up three people and not allowed them to perform their major function within the building i.e. assistant principal duties, counseling and teaching. She, and others like her, caused the school to lose a classroom and maybe a subject teacher. The kid attending in school suspension isn’t learning what they should but most don’t care. This kid’s behavior in some way, affected the entire school to some degree. Thirty or so behavior problems can consume vast amounts of educational time and the schools really don’t have the authority or backing to “do it 60’s style”, which by the way, seldom happened simply because the threat of corporal punishment existed and that usually was a sufficient deterrent.
Of course, there's always out-of-school suspension and the kids love that because they can do anything they want. Why? Because there’s no parental supervision. As a result, I think schools try to avoid out of school suspension because the kids don't care about education, it simply gives the kid a break and the school may be responsible for the actions of the kids during school time.

[kingston401]

03:26 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 5
So, slapping, paddling, in school and out-of-school suspensions are forbidden or don’t deter bad behavior, what else can the school do? Call law-enforcement because they are the only ones that have the "right" to touch a child and bring "pressure to bear". I'm sure cops don't like to perform this duty and that's why they use handcuffs – it's one of the few ways to impress the young and hardheaded.
If the consequences of negative behavior aren't made around this age, the die is cast and it will be very difficult to change poor behavior in the future especially with a parent like this. At sixteen, some are proud to be hauled away from the school in handcuffs. The man power required to make an impression is huge but the student has to receive negative feedback even though it costs a great deal of money. In the end, the school isn’t allowed to do much for punishment and leaving punishment up to the parents won’t work because if it did, the parent wouldn’t have produced a kid like this. I doubt that this is her first incident of disobedience or “rudeness”.

[kingston401]

03:25 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 6
So, because of being mouthy, an 11 year old twit involved three adults and a total of 3-4 hours (assistant principal, guidance person and cops “making an impression”)—the 60s method was faster, more direct and effective.
Then, add parents’ "misguided input” into our school systems plus the "educational ignorance” of politicians And school boards and you have an up-to-date, dysfunctional, nation-wide school system that we are presently experiencing.
The teachers sure didn't create these difficulties, and if you ask them, I'll bet you they can fix a lot of educational problems but parents and politicians may not like their methods or solutions. Why? Politicians couldn’t pander to the parental votes and parental responsibility would come into play. They don't want to admit their lousy parents, house out of control kids that they created, so they blame their kids’ poor behavior or low IQ on the teachers not doing their job. Since there are many more parents than teachers, the politicians lose the least amount of votes by siding with the parents instead of the teachers.

[kingston401]

03:25 AM on 03/09/2012

PART 7
School boards play probably the most significant role in dysfunctional school districts because all decisions are made/approved by them—and most have no professional expertise to make educational decisions. Allow teachers to implement changes to the system, then the public can hold them responsible for the results (if voucher, private, charter and cyber schools are held to the same standards).
If you were a teacher, how would you like to be evaluated by this kid and her mother? Yet, in some states, this is seriously being considered. That’s as scary as it is unfair.

[cigi]

12:55 PM on 03/09/2012

My daughter teaches in a rather upper middleclass district in North Jersey. One of her colleagues was recently lectured by one of her Indian (like India Indians) as to how she really was working for him since his parents PAID THE TAXES that allowed her to even work there. Now where did this kids get that narrative???? Last week my daughter had an inclass confrontation with a student who threw a fit when she asked him to put away his cell phone and quit texting during her class. Teachers today deal with a whole lot more than when I graduated from school decades ago. They also do not always have a good ADMINISTRATION (school management) to back them on matters of discipline. If we do not teach our children to be thoughtful of their actions and words, then these things will continue to happen. I do not blame the teachers, because actually, the parents mostly abdicate their duties to their children to anyone else but themselves. This little Princess is a great example

[Rhonda Schick]

08:50 PM on 03/10/2012

Kingston, I love you! Well put! I have had a few butt spankings in school and I learned from them. I am glad I had teachers who cared enough to make sure I didn't get into trouble all the time and made sure I stayed on the right path.

[robinhbressler]

10:25 PM on 03/08/2012

So just because she was being a brat she had the police call on her and she was arrested!?! There are real crimes being commited daily and instead dealing with a real crime our fine men and women in the police department are being is called out having there time wasted on this!!! This principal should ba ashamed of him or her self! If you can't handle the occasional snotty kid you need to find another job!

[blindjester]

07:56 AM on 03/09/2012

LOL.

You want principals to manhandle kids that refuse to comply?

[robinhbressler]

12:18 PM on 03/09/2012

No! Are you kidding!?! That would be like dropping the man in a pit full of wolves wearing nothing but a meat loincloth! No, what they should do is call the parents. That way they can't say that they didn't know and it makes them responsable for there children.If they try to wiggle out of it then you tell them either they can't help to fix it or (if the kid is really bad) they can help pay for the kid(s) to be bussed to a school that deals with behavioral like theres. Once money is involved even the most lazy parent of these brats will get there heads out of there butts!

[cigi]

12:59 PM on 03/09/2012

Like how robin? Can you outline how you would do it differently? Does this school have a time out zone, a white room, where you can put a child to "evaluate their behavior"??? If the little darling became physical during the altercation, would you hit back or just take a pummeling? We had a teacher KILLED in St. Louis, MO in the 1990s, because a FIFTH GRADER hit her in the chest with his bookbag...caused a heart attack and other injuries. So pray tell, how would you handle this?????

[Professor Wagstaff]

03:40 PM on 03/08/2012

Just because the officer has a gun, a Taser, a nightstick, and backup is no reason to assume that an 11 year old girl (behind a screen in the backseat) isn't a threat to the officer's safety.

[luellawhewei]

03:07 PM on 03/08/2012

My elementary school had a principal with a paddle in his office, that was enough to keep us kids on the straight and narrow! I don't think it was ever actually used but the idea of being sent there was enough, not to mention the hiney whopping you would get when you got home. Not allowed to spank your kids now, you get child protective visiting you.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

02:55 PM on 03/08/2012

She says that she isn't the type of girl to get arrested but she is very wrong about that. Sounds like her parents have failed miserably at teaching her that there is a price to be paid for bucking authority even if you don't like how they govern. You do children like this insolent girl no favors defending her behavior and demonising the adults that she obviously has no respect for.

[JRCJohnson415]

02:14 PM on 03/08/2012

I am quite positive there are more sides to this story...

[Protocolor]

03:26 PM on 03/09/2012

Yeah, like Yajira's behavior that got her kicked out of the classroom. Why did the assistant principal have to deal with her in the first place?

[WhatTheWhatThe]

01:42 PM on 03/08/2012

Why didn't the school call the parents instead of the police? Since when is being rude and argumentative a crime?
This looks like training to accept authority - no questions asked.

[WhatTheWhatThe]

04:49 PM on 03/08/2012

She was not violent and should not have been arrested. While there are too many permissive parents, you start with calling them anyway and you don't assume they are permissive. Many children are argumentative at that age.

[Winter Skye]

02:37 PM on 03/08/2012

Um...first of all, when students are told not to be wandering in the hallways and then give 'tude to the ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, then what is staff supposed to do? They tried intervention, which didn't work. Why would she be argumentative in the first place? What I think is happening is that this girl has no rules at home and is shocked when other adults dare to limit her in any way. Sorry, but if the parent (no father here?) is not going to raise her child to respect others, then someone else will have to pick up the slack. I disagree with criminalizing children, but since there is so much behavioral disorder going on these days, they can be quite dangerous and need restraint like handcuffs.