A 12-year-old girl was handcuffed for three hours last month at a Bronx middle school and her irate mom says she has yet to get an explanation for the move from school officials.
Christine Henson, 46, told The Daily News she arrived at IS 584 on St. Ann’s Ave. in the South Bronx on Nov. 19 as usual to pick up her daughter after school.
A school official ushered Henson to a room inside. There was her daughter, upset and sitting in a chair with her hands cuffed behind her back. Henson took a photo and video with her phone and demanded she be released.
Without explaining why the 6th grader was cuffed, a school safety agent refused to immediately release her saying the police had to come with the handcuff key, Henson told The News. The agent physically blocked her from going to stand by her daughter’s side, she said.
“I asked the school safety officer, ‘Why is she in handcuffs? Can you please take those off of her? She said ‘She’s not going anywhere,’” Henson recalled.
“My daughter was treated like a criminal. She was really violated. It doesn’t make sense.”
Soon after that, six police officers from the 40th Precinct arrived and the officers concluded since the mother was present, the girl should be released and sent home. The school safety agent then produced her own handcuff key and released the girl, according to Henson.
Since then, Henson said she has received no explanation for the handcuffing from either the Department of Education or the NYPD.
Education officials referred The News to the NYPD for comment, saying the use of restraints is at the discretion of police. They declined to answer questions about the school system’s role in the incident, citing student privacy, but said safety transfers are available to all families who request them.
“School and district leadership is reaching out to this family to ensure they have the supports they need, and mental health and emotional supports are available at every school,” said public schools spokeswoman Jenna Lyle. “We are taking steps to ensure that these resources are known to this student.”
The NYPD did not immediately reply to emails.
Data shows that use of restraints on children by the authorities in the city is a lot more common that one may believe. There were 1,049 incidents involving handcuffs during the 2022-23 school year, the most recently available numbers compiled by the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The NYCLU study found that almost all – 96% – were incidents involving Black and Hispanic children where the police responded but did not make an arrest, as in this case.
Roughly two in 10 were because a child was considered ‘in crisis,’ a term for severe emotional distress, the report said.
“Officers handcuffed Black and Latinx students at significantly higher rates than their white peers, especially in incidents where police were not arresting students and/or where no criminal activity occurred,” the NYCLU study found.
The girl told The News she also didn’t receive an explanation for why the school safety agent handcuffed her.
“It was just out of nowhere,” the girl told The News. “They did it sneakily. I was confused on why they did it. It felt terrible. It didn’t feel right. They just did it. They didn’t say why. Now my wrist hurts.”
The girl went to an urgent care doctor the following day for pain to her wrist and neck, Henson said. She has not been subject of any disciplinary action, her mom said.
The girl has returned to school, but wants to transfer. “I feel frightened, I don’t even want to go to class,” she said.
On Nov. 22, Henson put in a request for an immediate transfer. But an official with District 7, Michael Montes, told her in an email she had to submit all the required information that day. If she didn’t, the transfer would be postponed until the Fall.
On Wednesday, after word began to emerge the incident would become public, the school once again raised the transfer option, said Rev. Kevin McCall, a civil rights activist assisting the family.
“You send your child to school to learn enough, not to be placed in handcuffs,” McCall said. “We don’t need the police inside our schools.”
McCall called on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to fire the school safety officer and on Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos to take action.
Henson said she intends to sue over the incident, but has yet to file a claim, she said.
“The school just glossed it over and expected me to bypass it as if nothing occurred. They want this to disappear,” Henson said.
