I was watching The Today Show this morning and they were showing a story about an eight year old boy who threw a temper tantrum in a public school and was pepper sprayed by police. At first hearing, it sounded like the police had over-reacted, but as the story unfolded I have to say that I believe that the police did the right thing. It’s a terrible thought, I agree, but this child has had several temper tantrums before at school and this was the third time that the police were called in for this child. This child was posing a physical threat to the teachers and needed to be stopped. Although pepper spray is painful, it is not a permanent damage, and it resolved the problem without actually hurting anyone. Maybe the next time the child feels like throwing a temper tantrum he’ll think twice about it!

The mother was being interviewed and said that the boy has not had problems like this at home, that the problems are in school when they transition from a free time (like recess) to a structed time, like studying.  Maybe the reason that the child never has this problem at home is because there is more leeway for him to transition from one to the other.  Times like these make me glad that my kids are all grown up!

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