While no one can verify the nostalgic reports that a 12-year-old Nas once went to hell for hitting Jesus, the Miami-Dade School Police can confirm that a Coral Way K-8 Center first grader did actually end up in cuffs after he attacked a teacher.
According to Miami’s WSVN-TV, on Friday (Jan. 26) cellphone footage surfaced showing the 7-year-old being detained by police despite the cries of his parents. The arrest came after the student was restrained for attacking his teacher in the hallway, punching her repeatedly in her back after he was removed from the cafeteria for “playing with his food.”
Despite being taken to the principal’s office where the administrator and his parents agreed to a 10-day suspension, the teacher – who had wrestled to the ground and her hair pulled – wanted to press charges against the 7-year-old. An act that surprised his parents.
“Says he’s a danger to society,” said the first grader’s father, Rolando Fuentes. “I said, ‘What? Seven years old? A danger to society?’”
This combined with an incident in November where the student was accused of kicking a teacher led the officers and school counselor to suggest the child be subjected to a psychiatric evaluation, which his mother, Mercy Alvarez, found unnecessary.
With the aid of a translator, Alvarez explained that the issue was not one of a mental instability and that she has had her son evaluated before to which she was told he was okay. Yet according to a statement by Miami-Dade School Police Officer Ian Moffett, the parents’ refusal to have their son seen is what resulted in the arrest.
“This action was warranted to prevent his erratic and violent behavior from bringing further harm to others or himself,” Moffet explained. “The manner in which he was transported to the receiving facility was done in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures.”
But, the parents see the move as excessive, claiming it is an injustice to their child. To which, the school system is responding by investigating the incident.