Parkland, Wash. – The mother of an 8-year-old boy is speaking out after she found her son handcuffed following an altercation at an elementary school in Parkland, Washington.
Seattle NBC affiliate KING reports Amanda Bullinger said the whole incident started at the school’s playground on Monday.
Bullinger’s son, Ayden, told his mother an older student had been bullying him over the past few months.
According to Bullinger, Ayden has sensory processing disorder, which only made the problem worse. But she said she never thought it would lead to what she saw when she got to the school.
“I get there and I see a police car in the parking lot, and I said, ‘Oh this can’t be good.’ I go into the office and Ayden is sitting in a chair, hands cuffed behind his back and a police office is holding him down like this,” Bullinger told KING. “And Ayden is bright red crying, freaking out.”
A spokesperson for the school district said restraining a child is a last resort option when there is an imminent threat of bodily harm.
Federal privacy laws prohibit the school from discussing details, but a police report about the incident shows Ayden yelling “I’m going to kill him” and became physically combative to the other boy.
A school resource officer escorted Ayden from the school. He’s been suspended from classes since the incident.
“He was an 8-year-old,” Ayden’s mom said. “There could have been other options.”
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