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First, the student went after a classmate with a pair of scissors. Later the same day he knocked the teacher into an easel, bruising her jaw. A few months later he hit another student and was suspended.
He's 5 years old.
Sadly, this public school kindergartner is not the only pupil to be removed from his classroom.
Across the city, growing numbers of very young children are being suspended for aggressive and inappropriate behavior, Education Department figures obtained by the Daily News show.
The most recent statistics available, from the 2002-03 school year, showed a 25 percent increase over the previous year - from 68 kindergarten suspensions in 2001-02 to 85 last term.
Most of the incidents were in-school suspensions that involved boys who were removed from their classrooms and placed under tight supervision, officials said.
There are several reasons for the increase. First, a growing population of difficult children is entering the school system at a time when principals are being pressured to strictly follow the Education Department's discipline code, officials said.
Second, the jump in teacher retirements has led to an influx of inexperienced teachers, and they say they get insufficient training to avoid suspensions.
Finally, parents say school officials are slow to respond to requests for help for their difficult kids.
"Suspending 5-year-olds is not the action of first resort," said Susan Cofield, the school system's head of guidance. "However, when all other means have been exhausted, unfortunately even with a 5-year-old, suspension is an option."
Five schools account for 25 percent of last year's kindergarten suspensions, a statistic Cofield said she wanted to investigate after the Daily News brought it to her attention.
"Are there patterns?" she said. "Is it the same children, the same teachers?"
Four of the five schools have overall suspension rates that are dramatically higher than the system-wide average.
Why children are more aggressive, as school officials and others say, is open to many theories - from young or unemployed or absent parents to violent television shows or undetected cases of attention deficit disorder.
But the offenses committed by the suspended 5-year-olds read like a grownup rap sheet:
_Numerous incidents of "sexual harassment, inappropriate touching," "fighting," "defying lawful authority," and "behavior creating great risk of injury."
_Three single incidents of "intimidation, coercion, extortion," "possessing a level 2 weapon," such as a scissor, nail file or broken glass.
_One suspension for "using profane or obscene language."
One Brooklyn kindergarten teacher said he and his pupils were victims of kids who were suspended last year and added the problem was worsening.
"I can honestly say nobody hit me my first few years, but the last two have been different," he said. "People don't understand why you can't control a 5-year-old. These are children who are either hurting another child or they take off running out of the room."
"I've never had one class or lecture about how to deal with a difficult child," he added. "I guess you're just supposed to find your own way."
Parents of children who are victimized are rarely sympathetic. In one incident at a Queens elementary school, parents banded together and demanded the ouster of a kindergarten child who "brutalized" classmates.
"We were tired of our kids getting hit," said one mother. "He was constantly smacking, kicking, punching. We were really fed up." The boy was transferred to another class, but after two days had to be suspended for similar behavior.
The boy's mother, a single parent, did not believe there was a problem, school officials said. "She said, `He plays rough with his uncles at home. Let's give him time to grow up.' "
The retired principal of Public School 279 in Canarsie, N.Y., who suspended seven kindergartners last year, the most in the city, said he believed the discipline code was a "zero tolerance policy" that left little room for interpretation.
"We had incidents that were so outrageous that they called for me to put that code into effect," said Ralph Viverito, a 38-year veteran of the city schools.
Two of the suspensions involved children who tried to pull down classmates' pants - an infraction that Viverito said left him no choice but to suspend. "I went by the letter of the code," he said. "We called the police. That was the regulation."
Because the suspensions were in-school, Viverito said he felt the children would be getting counseling and their parents would be involved.
"There would be a message sent," he said, acknowledging that some experts say suspending such young children has no effect. "I don't care what the research says," Viverito said. "Take it from me. They understand."
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THE WORST OFFENDERS
Child 1:
_9/03: The student grabbed the ... teacher's right leg and continuously punched it. The teacher was helped by another teacher who was walking by.
_10/03: The student jumped on three different children causing their heads to hit a rug ...(He) pulled the chair out from under a child and caused the child to fall on the floor and put his leg out to try and trip another student. The teacher tried to call the office but the student grabbed the cord of the phone. The principal and assistant principal came to the class and saw the student working on an assignment and grabbing crayons.
_10/03: The student stuck a pencil point in the hand of another student ... The teacher spoke to the student and told him the right way to use a pencil.
_11/03: The student flung a hula hoop at another student ... and hit the other student on the left side of his face ... The student went after (another) student for no apparent reason. The student began to push the other student with the front of his body. The other student walked away but the student kept at it. Security was called and escorted the student out of the room.
_12/03: The student began calling out, making noises and trying to disrupt the lesson. The teacher asked the student to calm down ... The teacher had scissors and some paper she was cutting. The student grabbed the scissors and opened them wide toward the teacher. The teacher talked the student into giving the scissors back to her.
Child 2:
_12/02: The student and another student inappropriately touched a third student.
_5/03: The student tried to pull down another student's pants.
_6/03: The student hit another student in class.
Child 3:
_3/03: The student attempted to stab another child with a pair of scissors.
_3/03: The student was fighting in class. The teacher was about to call the assistant principal when the student knocked her into an easel, injuring her jaw.
Child 4:
_4/03: The student became very disruptive ... lifted a chair over his head and threatened to throw it, and a teacher tried to stop him. The student threw the chair, missing the teacher by a few inches. The student then ran out of the school and the teacher ran after him.
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HOW ONE KID WOUND UP IN CUFFS
She tried to tell them her young son was difficult and needed extra help, but nobody in his Queens public school would listen.
The boy's tantrums, biting and scratching finally came to this: He was handcuffed by a school security guard. Then he was suspended for four days.
"We were appalled to think they could do that to a 6-year-old," said the mother who didn't want her name used. "They are not handling these children correctly."
After he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, the mother found an inclusion kindergarten class in her neighborhood that was taught by both regular and special education teachers.
The boy thrived. "They were very strong, very experienced," said the mother.
But in first grade, he got a novice teacher who couldn't handle him. "He would start running and kicking and acting out," she said. "He fell apart."
It took months of calling and demanding, but the mother finally got the boy moved to a smaller class. Still, he continued to get into trouble.
The mother pleaded for him to get an aide, but was rebuffed. "I said, `If something happens to my son or a teacher or other child, you are responsible.' "
The crisis she feared finally came one day at lunch when her son and other children were jumping in a puddle. A security guard told them to stop. The boy ran away and began to climb the school fence.
"The principal came out and ordered him off the fence," said the mother. "He kicked and scratched her and that's when they handcuffed him."
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