(Associated Press — Dec. 4, 2023)
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The number of times that children were handcuffed and sent to the emergency room from Wicomico County, Md., schools last year, at least 40 percent of whom were 12 years or younger. Maryland law allows...
... for these removals, called petitions for emergency evaluation, though they are intended to be used for people with severe mental illness and who are endangering themselves or others. But advocates worry that schools across the country are sending children to the ER for a psych evaluation simply in response to behaviors prompted by bullying or frustration over assignments. Schools in Wicomico County have used the process at least 750 times in the last eight years on students, some of whom were as young as 5 years old.
