Bronx mom speaks from experience: City has no business handcuffing 7-year-old children
Brian Branch Price for Daily News
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Dillon Lynch, an autistic 7-year-old from the Bronx, is too traumatized to talk about being handcuffed following an incident at school.

An autistic 7-year-old was hauled out of a Bronx public school in metal handcuffs last year - the second case of a cuffed youngster to come to light this week.

Mom Siobhan Lynch told the Daily News about her second-grader's harsh punishment after reading about another 7-year-old special education student getting cuffed at a Queens school on April 13.

The family sued the city and settled earlier this year for $30,000 - and now also gets public money to send Dillon to private school, Lynch said.

"There's no reason to handcuff a 7-year-old. I don't care who you are," the mom said. "There's no 7-year-old dangerous enough - unless they're holding a gun and even then I question whether they knew how to use it."

She said her suit offered another reason for New Yorkers to think twice about arresting elementary school students.

"If people don't care about a 7-year-old being arrested, at least they should care about your taxpayer money being wasted," she said.

Dillon Lynch didn't want to talk about the traumatic event, but his mother said she stepped forward to point out that the handcuffing of young Joseph Anderson wasn't an isolated incident.

"The best we can do now is make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else," she said. "I was outraged it happened to another 7-year-old, or anyone else."

By Lynch's account, Public School 71 wasn't providing the special education services Dillon needed.

"They treat special education students like they're not wanted," Lynch said.

Just a week after a meeting with the principal last January over problems, Dillon got into an argument at lunch with another child, Lynch said.

An inexperienced special education aide physically restrained Dillon - despite Lynch's warning to the school that restraining her son could exacerbate any problems.

Dillon lashed out at the aide and was ultimately locked in a small room until police arrived to cuff him, escort him out of the building and ship him off to a hospital, his mom said.

Joseph Anderson, also a special education student, got cuffed after an Easter egg coloring activity at PS 153 in Queens and sent to a hospital.

Like Joseph, Dillon could not bear to hear sirens or see police officers afterward, Lynch said.

"He couldn't go near someone in a uniform," Lynch said. "He'd cover his head. When this woman says her son was doing that, it was really heartbreaking. There's no reason why the police officers couldn't sit down and say, 'What's up kid?'"

City officials declined to confirm any payments for Dillon's private school education, but noted any payments were not part of a lawsuit.

rmonahan@nydailynews.com

NYC 7-Year-Old Handcuffed Over Easter Egg Classroom Tantrum
Special Needs Student: 'Guy Say I'm Gonna Get The Needle'
CBS News, April 21, 2011 11:52 PM
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Talk about a controversy in the classroom. An Easter egg decorating assignment at a Queens school ended with a special education student in handcuffs.

The mother of the 7-year-old said her son was treated like a criminal, but school officials stand by their decision.

Little Joseph Anderson told CBS 2's Dave Carlin on Thursday said his wrists still hurt from the handcuffs.

“They handcuffed me and they picked me up and they took me to the ambulance,” Anderson said.

The cuffs were put on him at school by police after he admittedly threw a tantrum over during an Easter egg activity in his first-grade classroom.

“I wanted to color my Easter egg again so my mom could know how nice was it. But Ms. Kate wouldn’t let me so I jumped on the table,” Joseph said.

He said the school employees at P.S. 153 in Queens told him he’d be taken to the hospital if he didn’t calm down. That made him more agitated. His mother was called, but police arrived before she did, slapped Joseph in on handcuffs and took him to an ambulance. He screamed for his mother, Jessica.

“I wanted to sit on the seat and the guy say I’m gonna get the needle,” Joseph said.

“They treated him like a perp,” his mother added.

“All he wanted was his mother and he’s treated like a common criminal,” said family attorney Robert Nicholson.

Police said Joseph, who is a special needs student, acted in a threatening manner, and that he had scissors and was restrained for his own safety and the safety of other children.

The scissors in question were small plastic safety scissors.

New Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said that while a full investigation will be conducted, it appears that school officials took the appropriate action.

“There are occasion when it may need to be done and I think it’s the responsibility of the principal and school safety to make that determination, but there are opportunities that present themselves where a student may be in danger to either him or herself or to other students,” Walcott said.

Joseph’s mother wasn’t having any of it.

“How does the principal or police officer sleep at night ‘cause I’m not sleeping well? My son is not sleeping well,” she said.

“I want the principal to say sorry for handcuffing me and the cops for handcuffing me,” Joseph added.

The lawyer for the family said apologies will not be enough, as he is readying a lawsuit on behalf of the mother and son he called traumatized and damaged.

Joseph’s mother said he suffers from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. She said she is enrolling her son in private school.