On 2006-01-15 20:48:00, Anonymous wrote:
"You're right, Robert. As the kid was running into the woods the staff should have said, "wait, let's talk". You are a simple minded idiot if you believe that works. Once a kid is desparate enough to take off running, they are not willing to talk anymore."
One, there was no mention of this kid "running into the woods." Dan stated that he "ran away from staff." Hell, I'd run too if I had already been or already seen the untrained goons' unapproved restraint methods.
Two, abc123, a staff member, has already posted that any kid can walk off campus at any time and cannot be restrained for doing so. Clearly what these goons did was against HLA's policy and slamming a kid face-first into gravel is an assault, not a restraint.
I have worked for years with kids like this and ones with far more extreme behaviors. I have never, ever had to put my hands on a child to keep them "safe." I have never needed to restrain a child even one time. Never.
This eager desire to get physical with a child is a symptom of unqualified staff. If there were qualified, educated, trained staff, they could have handled the situation without assaulting a suicidal child. This, in the most basic terms, shows incompetence.