Pepper Spray? Who is this kid??

So I wake up this morning ( a fairly good sign and great way to start the day), stumble to the kitchen (not just a phrase...literally, I stumble), turn on the TV and get ready for another action-packed day slingin' e-mails.  It ain't much, but it's mine.  But, I digress.  As the Today show finds its way on the screen, I hear the story of the second-grader that was pepper-sprayed by police in Colorado.  Second grade?  Seriously, pepper spray?  First thing I did was check the level of the wine in the bottle.  No way did I drink THAT much.  What the hell did this kid do that the cops used spray?  Knowing most of you understand the way my mind works, a mental image starts forming.  I clearly see an eight-year old kid stumbling up the steps of the school in jeans, mini black work boots, black leather jacket and carrying an opened, half -empty bottle of Jack.  He's already in an agitated, drunken stupor.  Walks into the school, pushes some kid with a sweater vest face-first into his locker, slaps Mary Sue on the....well, slaps her, swigs off the bottle and throws it against the window of the principal's office where it smashes into a thousand pieces.  Walks into class, looks at the teacher and asks, "What up, Teach?  Hit?" as he rolls one on the desk.  I figured he had to be packin', too.  What drunken second-grader isn't?  Yes, this was the image I got.  Again, not much but it's mine.

Truth of this story is...this is the third time the police have been called to the school because of this child.  He was acting out so much this time that the teachers were hiding in a closet.  The kid's EIGHT!  Sorry, I have to keep repeating that.  I still find it unelieveable.  The teachers are in the closet and the kid told them he would kill them if they came out.  He was, if I recall correctly, trying to sharpen a stick so he could stab them.  My, what a fine job these parents are doing with little Damien (name changed to protect the guilty...and I never really got his name).  So he's going off (spitting, throwing chairs) and the cops are called.  They get to the school and, when told to drop the sharp piece of wood, the kid ignores them.  Did I mention...he's EIGHT??  The fine officers then did what any intelligent person, armed with pepper-spray and a gun, would do - they chose the spray.  Not saying I would have  made the same choice, but still....

Now the cops are under fire.  This kid's mother (who would have guessed?) is filing a complaint.  Did I mention this school is in the same district as Columbine?  The mother, when asked, suggested the police officers should have tried to 'talk him down'.  TALK HIM DOWN??  How 'bout knock him down?  She wants them to get training to learn how to deal with a crisis situation for children.  When asked why he acted this way, the kid replied, "I don't know...sometimes that's just the way my body goes."  He has been to multiple doctors and shrinks and, by mom's admission, no one can find anything wrong with him.  WHAT?  You mean we couldn't even slide this under 'Old Faithful' - ADHD?  Isn't, like, 75% of the juvenile population living on Ritalin right now?  We got a quick whack along side the head and were told to "Pay attention," when we were kids.  Sure as hell cured my ADHD!  Now we have a kid that has no medical reason for acting this way, is on no medication, is already in a class for Special Needs students, and a mother who thinks we ought to all adapt to her son and his uncontrollable urges.  This kid WILL be a serial-something-or-other when he grows up...and yes, that is my professional opinion...as a parent and former hell-raiser.

Question for the Day - Have we all realized now that we've taken this 'Don't Discipline' thing too far?  I will say this one more time for the people in the Cheap Seats - THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABUSE AND DISCIPLINE!  I do not agree with abuse which is defined as "Cruel or inhumane treatment, excessive".  Abuse is an ongoing thing whereas discipline is, when faced with a single situation where the kid screwed up royally (think 8-year old and teachers), you knock enough sense into the kid that he won't do it again.  Beat his little ass so he can't sit for a week!  Hey, we've ALL been there.  We've all had the stinging sensation that hurt like hell....right?  Here's something else, for all you parents that don't believe in discipline - I am fine with that, too, but I better never hear about your kid holding teachers at bay with a stick carved into a point.  Figure out what works best for you, but for God's sake, do something!  I don't want to hear, ten years from now, how we can't figure out what happened.  Get involved in your kid's life...and STAY involved.  They start going Goth after wearing khakis and sweater vest,  you'd better be asking questions.  Don't chalk it up to them 'finding their own little personality', either.  Your kid and his screwed-up personality might hurt someone and we all know you won't accept anyone pointing the finger at you.  It's never YOUR fault, is it?  Freaks.  Seriously, stop blaming other people and expecting us to change our 'normal' behavior so your kid can be a dick.  It's not okay.  Stop it.

So there is my take on the current events of the day.  I like finding these patently absurd notions and sharing them.  Even if I only get to tell a few people, this is liberating.  I don't really want to book a flight to Colorado to beat the mother with the kid's stick anymore.  I'm actually yearning to check the level of the wine bottle again....and, per chance, pour a glass, sipping slowly, as I ponder how some parents got so lost and think this is okay.  It really isn't.  We need to fix the laws so that, when a child is disciplned, they cannot call 911.  In the old days, if we had made that call, the cops would show up, listen to our parents, then beat us a second time.  People back then knew how to raise kids...and give a good ass-whipping without reproach.  I'm longing for the old days.....


'Til next time......