Report: Multiple First-Graders Handcuffed, Told They Were Going To Prison
UPDATED 08/31/11 7:09 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Multiple students were handcuffed at a Far South Side elementary school and were told they were going to prison, according to a published report.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, Michael Carin, the attorney for parent LaShanda Smith, said in an e-mail to the Chicago Tribune that school officials at Carver Primary School, at 901 E. 133rd Pl. in the Chicago Housing Authority's Altgeld Gardens development, hired an on-campus security guard last year to discipline some disruptive first-graders.
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Carin told the Tribune that the security officer took students out of class and held them in an office with no other adults present, where they were handcuffed. The guard told the children were told they were going to prison and would never see their parents again, the attorney told the newspaper.
Smith's lawsuit made headlines Tuesday, as her first-grade son was allegedly one of the children who was handcuffed.
The Tribune reported the security guard handcuffed Smith's son and left his arms locked – for one full hour, the Tribune reported.
Carin claims the school system has ignored his attempts to address the situation, the Tribune reported.
Smith is seeking more than $100,000 in damages. CPS officials declined to comment to the Tribune on the lawsuit.
