Officers to carry Tasers at Flagler County schools?

[Town Crier]

Deputies stationed at Flagler County schools could soon be armed with Tasers.

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[Itchey]

You know what that is crap. It's a 3 sentence article designed to invoke emotions and cause an upstir.
The school board didn't want the tazers because of bad press that was totally unjustified.
Because a person is special needs (weak in the mind) doesn't equate to a similar physical weakness. A tazer is supposed to be deployed in a situation where lethal force could be used, however the tazer is determined and classified as a non lethal weapon. It is a choice or a tool that should not have been taken away from the officer to begin with. They are the people that are on scene and deal with the issues everyday, they are trained, and understand the effects of the tazer. People should remember that every officer who carries a tazer has also been "Tazed" during training.

As far as I am concerned the school board should have no qualms at all in dealing with this, and bringing the tazers back for the officers. If the school board has doubts, all they would have to do is go through the tazer themselves. It's about 4 hours or so, and then they could make an informed decision.

[Jeannie]

I say Taz those students into compliance. Some of those kids are really big.

[Name removed by request]

Why not just go back to the old wooden paddle. OH but wait that is illegal and child abuse. The tazer should also be illegal and child abuse. If they can't even Spank our kids, then an officer should not be allowed to use a tazer on them.Tazer's ( IMO ) should not be on the school property. No more then a gun or any other weapon. I am Glad my kids didn't have school issues. If someone tazered one of them , I would have a serious problem with that.

If the Officer can't handle kids, then put someone in there that can. They have a radio don't they?

Before it comes up, I would go to the school and give the Officers job a shot.

[George723]

I went to a private school growing up and they had no problem bustin out the yard stick or paddle! problem now a days is all the kids know they cant be hit because of the fear of going to jail or lawsuits. bunch of bullshit rules and laws. UC is right about the tazer. If I had a kid in school that acted up and got tazered they would have a problem, and I dont care who is on the giving end of the tazer. Special needs kids are just that, special needs, it takes a very special person to be able to deal with them, if the special needs children cant form a bond with their teacher there will always be conflict,however if something breaks out, the teacher can calm them down if the bond is there. You dont need a tazer. You need a brain and patience.

[Seahorse]

Better that a violent problem student (special needs or not) be tazed than an innocent student or faculty member be hurt because of that violent problem student.

Special needs is no excuse- if they are so disabled that they have no control over violent urges, they do not belong in a regular school. I understand all children are entitled to a public education regardless of disability, but all students have the right to feel safe and not encumbered by fears of violence at schools.

I know the Resource Officer at FPC. He would never use a Taser on a student unless it's justified. And if he did, I would have no doubt he had no other choice.

[Fastcar]

Imo what is being missed is that there is a need for a cop in school!! I'm of the belief that a kid is a reflection of the parents. If there is need to taze a student then the next move should be smack the parents with it.

Secondly this bit of main steaming kids with emotional problems is bs. Why should those students that are trying to learn be disrupted or perhaps injured by a student that is "troubled"?

[Seahorse]

There is a profoundly developmentally disabled child at a local school that is a known danger to everyone on campus This child is over 6 feet tall and weighs over 200 lbs; is violent, unstable and unpredictable and on several occasions has gone after teachers, paraprofessionals and students.

This kid has had a female staff member cornered against a file cabinet beating her and broke another staff member's arm. This child is known to run out of the classroom and through the hallways of the school when angry. This child cannot be held down by three grown men during a tantrum and when those altercations occur the adults trying to restrain are often bruised or injured. Very recently this child had to be restrained in front of their mother during school dropoff because of an attempted attack on a male staff member that walked past the student.

This child does not belong in a regular school but guess what- the father is an attorney and a politician and anytime the possibility of moving this child to another school is broached the parents threaten to sue the district. So this kid is left there and everyone on the campus of this school is a potential victim. The parents know this but they are rigid in their insistence that their troubled child be permitted to be in school with everyone else's kids.

Tasers are indeed needed- not because of kids but because of parents like those I described above. They are flexing their muscles at the expense of the safety of thousands of innocent non violent kids. If I ever learn that this kid hurts another student I will make sure to find the victim's parents and let them know what I have witnessed with regard to the behavior and demands of these parents.

[Mamabear]

Paddles should never have been removed, the threat was usually enough to keep the peace in a class room. I am talking about the normal class and not special needs. when I worked at a Therapeutic Group Home - all special needs children - we would sometimes have to hold them down to stop them from being a danger to themselves or others. That is a different type of child that needs a different more stringent set of guidelines and should not be in mainstream classes.

[dorkettechicky]

Perhaps it is the media hype, but when I read this headline, it makes me think of the cases where very young children had been tased, stories of a 6 y/o autistic child being tased during a temper tantrum are the ones that I tend to remember when I think about tasers in schools. That is the immediate image that comes to mind, and not that of the scenario described above.

[Jeannie]

When I worked at the school, a teacher had her nose broken by a special needs child. The child was huge.

[saint160]

Let's put special needs kids aside for this discussion. When I went to school, if I did something that would have warranted a tasing, the tasing would have been minor compared to what would have happened at home. And, therein, lies the problem. Many of today's(I didn't say most) parents would go after the school instead of the crux of the problem...their own kid. In many cases parental supervision is non-existent. Knowledge is power. Just knowing that a tasing is a possibility might be enough to keep a small altercation from escalating into a serious one. Kids know a school officer is not going to pull a gun and shoot them but now they have to think about the taser. JMHO

[George723]

There is a profoundly developmentally disabled child at a local school that is a known danger to everyone on campus This child is over 6 feet tall and weighs over 200 lbs; is violent, unstable and unpredictable and on several occasions has gone after teachers, paraprofessionals and students.

This kid has had a female staff member cornered against a file cabinet beating her and broke another staff member's arm. This child is known to run out of the classroom and through the hallways of the school when angry. This child cannot be held down by three grown men during a tantrum and when those altercations occur the adults trying to restrain are often bruised or injured. Very recently this child had to be restrained in front of their mother during school dropoff because of an attempted attack on a male staff member that walked past the student.

This child does not belong in a regular school but guess what- the father is an attorney and a politician and anytime the possibility of moving this child to another school is broached the parents threaten to sue the district. So this kid is left there and everyone on the campus of this school is a potential victim. The parents know this but they are rigid in their insistence that their troubled child be permitted to be in school with everyone else's kids.

Tasers are indeed needed- not because of kids but because of parents like those I described above. They are flexing their muscles at the expense of the safety of thousands of innocent non violent kids. If I ever learn that this kid hurts another student I will make sure to find the victim's parents and let them know what I have witnessed with regard to the behavior and demands of these parents.

if there is such a child in the schools and everyone feels threatened because of you daddy is maybe the the teachers that have been attacked by him should sue the district for compensation. and besides, if hes done this before and is still there and is a threat to the school throw his ass out who cares who his dad is. If I worked at that school and he came after me and attacked me, i'd lay his ass out.

[Itchey]

George instead of suing the district, would we (society) be better off suing that parent (aka Lawyer & Politician?) I mean after all, along with flexing your muscle requarding freedom of access, and education, under the federal disability act, the courts have not yet (to my knowledge) been asked, about the condition that when you (the parents) exercise these rights, do you not at the same time incur the liability of exercising that right?

To put it in plain english, Those parents made the decision to place that student into the situation, (Think dangerous animal here, not that the child is an animal nor am I insinuating that). They also have the responsibility of that childs behavior and actions. You can bet, if he disrupted my childs education, or harmed him or her in anyway, either physically, emotionally, or caused harm to her learning ability and thus her earning potential, then they are of course subject to whaqt a jury would find as reasonable and maybe even punishable fee's. No one has the right to exercise their rights, over the advantage of anyone else. That case has been tried and been successful many times.

The school board isn't the victim, therefore they cannot challenge it, but a fellow student can!

[Itchey]

Uncle Charlie I think you are maybe missing the point.
That officer could probably stand toe to toe with that kid and end up beating the crap out of him.
He could use a baton, and cause even more brain trauma, or break his hands, arms, legs, and on and on.
He could spray him with pepper spray, and depending on who else is around get all the bystanders at the same time.
The tazer is used to momentarily incapacitate the person, which allows further physical restraints to be applied, like handcuffs, leg irons, etc.
The severe pain of the electrical shock, although short, and the subsequent incapacity to use your muscles is what typically leads to voluntary compliance to be restrained, and thus no longer harmful to themselves, or others, and you have a problem with that?

I don't get it, in today's world.....
If you touch my kid I'll kill you.... Regardless of what my kid did to cause that, from a reasonable and restrained adult is beyond ridiculous.
Lets be fair here... If I did something wrong, and a teacher or neighbor had to get involved, I WAS WRONG NOT THEM... I was told to respect older people, even if I didn't like it. If they were wrong, I was still to do what they said. I could complain to my parents, who would assuredly take care of it to make sure it didn't happen again, but the rule of thumb was the adult is right, and the child is wrong, until the child proves otherwise. There is nothing wrong with that is there?

[Itchey]

The school board last night decided it can not decide, s a workshop is needed. It will be scheduled for a later date!
We wonder why things are the way they are!
We need a new class for schools....
Welcome to "How to make a decision 101"

[Fastcar]

The school board last night decided it can not decide, s a workshop is needed. It will be scheduled for a later date!
We wonder why things are the way they are!
We need a new class for schools....
Welcome to "How to make a decision 101"

LMFAO!!!

These are the folks that were elected!! Yet we complain about a low voter turn out. Perhaps if more qualified candidates ran then the turn out of voters would increase. Then again who would want to run???? Maybe educate voters? I'm just thinking out loud.
I shoulda gone to the beach..................

[Jimliz]

Just taz them bro...

[Mamabear]

You all do realize the irony of this. How many years ago did they take corporal punishment out of schools and now they may have to use Tasers? I vote to put corporal punishment back so that 10 years from now we don't have to use Tasers.

[Itchey]

You all do realize the irony of this. How many years ago did they take corporal punishment out of schools and now they may have to use Tasers? I vote to put corporal punishment back so that 10 years from now we don't have to use Tasers.

Well we are changing the system, lets make sure we bring the Parents in for the corporal punishment deal. You know your kid gets spanked and that means you have to get it too!, We can call it the "I wish" rule..... You know that one right?