Posted on 04/26/2005 5:02:47 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
ST. PETERSBURG - The mother of the 5-year-old girl who was handcuffed at school by police has withdrawn her daughter from Pinellas public schools and is moving out of state, superintendent Clayton Wilcox said Monday night.
The development was the latest in a bizarre saga that began Friday, when a videotape of the handcuffing was made public.
Since then, wrenching video images of the wailing kindergartener being handcuffed by St. Petersburg police have raced around the globe, airing and re-airing on television news shows in the United States, Great Britain, Spain, around Asia and beyond.
On Monday morning, the Largo lawyer representing the girl's mother appeared on five network news shows. He returned wearily to his office to find a fax from the mother, 24-year-old Inga Akins, stating he had been fired. The fax had been sent from the tabloid TV show A Current Affair, on which the mother appeared Friday and Monday.
Also on Monday came the prospect that the Rev. Al Sharpton would be coming to town. The famous New York crusader and one-time presidential candidate is intrigued and considering weighing in on the episode, his staff said.
"Instantly he felt that it smelled bad, but he wants to research it first," said his spokeswoman Rachel Nordlinger. "It could be a case of police brutality or a case of her civil rights being violated."
Wilcox had no further information on Akins' move to pull the girl out of school. She was handcuffed at Fairmount Park Elementary on March 14 and transferred to another public school after the incident.
Wilcox said he found out about her leaving the system when he asked his staff Monday how she was doing in the new school.
A call to Akins' cell phone went unreturned Monday night.
Pinellas County records show that a St. Petersburg apartment complex where she lived moved to evict her on March 31, about two weeks after the handcuffing that put her daughter's face on TV screens across he world.
Wilcox said the girl had been out of school since Thursday.
John Trevena, who had been serving as the attorney for Akins, said he learned from an executive producer at A Current Affair that the girl and her mother traveled to New York City over the weekend, where they stayed at the show's expense.
The case of the handcuffed little girl was the top story on the tabloid program Monday night, with images of the girl smelling a flower and running through a park laughing.
The show interviewed a child psychologist who said the handcuffing might be racially motivated. A Current Affair also said the girl "had to flee her home to escape the media."
The show blamed Trevena's release of the video to major media outlets last week, including the St. Petersburg Times . The lawyer said a producer from the show "raged" at him last Friday, saying the release of the video violated an exclusive agreement between Akins and A Current Affair.
Trevena said he had been unaware of any agreement.
The show made no mention of its part in the media frenzy that has followed the video.
A Current Affair clearly communicated it had every intention of running the videotape, Trevena said. He also said the show interviewed Akins and her daughter only days after the handcuffing incident.
On Friday, a few hours after the video began screaming across the world, the show announced to the media that it had an exclusive.
It sent out a news release titled: "Five-year-old African American girl handcuffed by three police officers. A Current Affair gets first national look at incident on tape."
The program Monday evening did not disclose on air how much it had paid Akins for the story. When asked what the sum was Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the show laughed at the question. She said there would be no comment on the story.
Trevena called the program's actions "highly unethical and possibly illegal." He said he was concerned that his client was in New York discussing the case with another party without legal advice.
The videotape shows the girl defying an assistant principal and another school staff member as she tore items off walls and swung at the educators.
Later, it shows the girl in the assistant principal's office tearing items off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and swinging at the assistant principal numerous times.
The video ends after about 28 minutes with the girl crying as three St. Petersburg police officers place her in handcuffs.
The girl had a history of problems at the school, though the full extent is not known because student records are not public.
District officials have discussed an incident several weeks before the handcuffing in which a city police officer was called to the school because of a behavior problem with the girl. The officer said something to her about the possibility of being handcuffed if her behavior continued.
Akins later objected to that conversation, part of an ongoing feud with the school over her daughter's treatment.
District officials say the video started as an exercise by the girl's teacher to improve her craft in the classroom. But they acknowledge that the girl's history may have played a part in the decision to keep the camera rolling that day.
Though city police are being harshly criticized for their role in the incident, the department declined Wednesday to elaborate on the rationale for the handcuffing, citing a pending investigation.
Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said the department stood by a statement made in mid March, which was that department policy allows the handcuffing of minors in certain situations.
How did an incident that received mild attention in March blossom into a worldwide phenomenon five weeks later?
The video, said Matthew Felling, media director at The Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.
"It's not necessarily about the little girl, it's about the visceral nature of it," he said. "Is it compelling? Yes. Is it emotional porn? Yes. Is it internationally relevant news? No."
He said too many media outlets had been airing only part of the video, which is about 28 minutes long.
"This story is driven by 10 seconds of footage - two seconds of the tantrum and eight seconds of handcuffing," he said. "Completely taken out of context, but that is the media's way."
Maybe the teacher ought to sue the child for assault. Hey, she's got as much a case as the mother does against the school.
If you can sue a kid for downloading a song from the Internet, why not?
And then she would have gotten spanked by Dad again at home.
Wait, where is Dad?
The teachers' hands are tied.
Under today's circumstances, the best answer (IMHO) is a rubber room where out of control brats can be incarcerated until a parent claims them.
As soon as the kid broke something or took a swing at somebody, all bets were off.
Are we so brain dead that we think a kid having an aspirin tablet is some horrible crime, but if a kid takes a belt at a teacher or another student, that's OK?
... I am not maligning anyone because race, studies show that the white population is shrinking due to a surge in immigration and population growth in minorities. ... its not negative or positive it just is...
This child has some serious problems.
Again:
A thing is what it is, not what it is called.
Yes, the child does have something wrong with her. It's called "her mother."
You are absolutely correct, she was playing the situation and quieted down when she saw the police, BUT she was not combative with them. Their immediate goal was acheived by calling the police, the next step was unnecessary and criminialized a five year old who is not the one responsible for her actions, YET. I am betting this has been an ongoing problem and because they were not allowed to touch her, the school has probably told the mother that the next time it happens they would call the police. Also, the reason for the video cameras, to provide evidence because the mother was a threat.
Orpah is an Old Testament name (Ruth's sister-in-law). Oprah's mother misspelled it when Oprah was born. That's the story that Oprah herself has told.
I once knew a child named Placenta. Honest. Her mother thought it sounded good.
The lesson here regarding names like Tiger and Condoleeza and Oprah is that excellence can overcome obstacles.
Wise parents don't generally name their kids Adolph or Elvis or Dracula or Delilah. Saddling a little kid with a burden is a shame.
Back in the Thirties, my grandmother told a salesman, named Mr. Shitz (not sure of the spelling) to change his name.
I was wondering the same thing. I would think the video belonged to the school.
A doctor told of a child named female because that's what the mother saw on the birth certificate.
So much boils down to education.
"Do you think Oprah's name helped her?"
I don't know if it could help her. Oprah Winfrey has become part of this entire problem. She has turned a nation of women inward - finding the "goddess" within has become more important to women than raising children properly.
We agree. A person is what he/she is, despite his/her name. That doesn't mean that the same person would have the same level of success no matter what that name is.
I'm just getting up to speed on the story. I wonder if the mother has had any run ins with the law in the past.
I didn't watch the whole video, but I can say that the teacher is lying when she says that the video was made to help her improve her teaching methods. This video was made to document the child's behavior and the teacher's position that the child did not belong in a regular classroom. The child has a problem.
Mr. Spanky, huh? lol I was trying to remember if I ever spanked any of my 4. To be honest, they really didn't need to be spanked. But I do have a vague recollection of using my hand on someone's bottom once. That brings up another point. I have never been adverse to spanking, but I think using a switch or a belt is not the best way. If you wallop a kid's behind once or twice with your hand, it hurts your hand. That is a good thing.
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