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Satanica

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/u...er.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0
Citing “gross incompetence,” Pennsylvania has moved to revoke the license of a treatment center for troubled young people and to relocate dozens of residents after a 17-year-old boy died in a confrontation with staff members, according to documents from the state.

The report from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, dated Monday and first obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer, describes a confrontation that began after 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 at Wordsworth Academy in northwest Philadelphia. During the struggle, the report says, one staff member punched the boy, referred to as Child #1 in the documents, in the ribs multiple times while another held his legs. It describes the scene’s conclusion as told to investigators by other residents who witnessed it:

“The children also then overheard Child #1 yelling ‘get off me, I can’t breathe’ and then everything went silent.”

The boy, who was not identified, was pronounced dead by emergency responders.
[....]
The Philadelphia police confirmed that the victim was 17 and black.

A statement provided by Officer Tanya Little, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia police department, said that the police responded to a call from the academy at about 9 p.m., and discovered the victim lying unresponsive on the floor.

He was pronounced dead at 9:36 p.m., the police said. Their statement contradicts that of the state, which said he was pronounced dead 15 minutes later, at 9:51 p.m. The investigation was ongoing, the police said.

Debbie Allen, a spokeswoman for Wordsworth Academy, said “five staff members were suspended without pay immediately following the incident, as per Wordsworth’s policy.”
[....]
The confrontation between the boy and the staff members is described through several of the documents, in which the state lists multiple violations of which the center is accused.

The report says several staff members were involved in the confrontation, which began when a person identified as “Staff Member A” went into the victim’s bedroom to search for an iPod that the 17-year-old had been accused of stealing from another resident, “Child #2.”

Staff Member A flipped the victim’s bed over and threw furniture around during the search, the documents say. The iPod was found in a soap box. At some point, staff members heard the noise of breaking glass come from the room, the documents say, and after the search, the victim was “exhibiting aggressive behavior.”

Staff Member A started punching the boy in the ribs while another person, “Staff Member B,” held the victim’s legs, the report says. The boy began gasping for breath and then stopped moving.
[....]
The police department’s account of the incident, which was preliminary, said that staff members had found the victim barricading the door after his room had been searched. After he ignored instructions to stop, the police said, three staff members entered his room.

“They told him to calm down, but he started yelling and striking them,” the police department’s statement said. “While attempting to gain control of the 17-year-old male, he lost consciousness.”
 
Sounds like the staff members got a little too full of their own self-importance. It also sounds like the staff tore up the room & decided to break his property. If that's the case, I don't blame the kid for blowing a fuse.
I hope the place is closed down & the people involved are convicted of at least manslaughter.
 
Its a private school ... I would never send my kid to a place like this. Ever.

Nothing says I'm going to send you away to get fixed because I haven't got the balls to do it

myself ... like a place like this.
 
He didn't deserve to die, obviously. But a 17 year old male - that's a full grown male adult body with an immature mind - who was behaving in a manner that required he be restrained. That's polite speak for, he was as violent as fuck.

The staff have a right to be safe, too. They have a right to not be harmed by some nasty little bastard who is doing his damndest to harm them.

And these days, whether rightly or wrongly, a violent, aggressive, thieving 17 year old male who is residing in a place for 'troubled kids', has more rights and privileges under the law than the adult staff members.

Clearly they took it too far - he's dead. He shouldn't be dead. But I can only imagine how wildly confrontational, aggressive and violent he may have been behaving to warrant a response like this.

I'm not saying the staff were in the right. I'm saying we need to have an open and honest conversation over shifting back the balance on how we treat 'kids' in places like this. I say 'kid' because a 17 year old male is not a child. Not by a long stretch. Just a very immature and inexperienced adult. Their mental maturity should not be prioritized when discussing their treatment, over their physical age and strength. Especially in the context of a physical confrontation. What are you going to do? Plonk him on the naughty step for 17 minutes then patiently explain what he did was wrong? Please.

Standing Standing the staff down and involving this investigation etc - just smacks of fear of liability, lawsuits and political correctness. We need to be honest here. A violent bastard with the body and strength of a male adult, went batshit and needed to be restrained. He fought back, restraint was applied too heavily and he accidentally died as a result.

But the focus here will just be a useless witchhunt. That isn't helping staff or resident.
 
Waiting to see COD on this one. The length of time between when he stopped struggling and actual TOD is conflicting between LE and the State in this article. It could be from positional asphyxia from fighting against restraint, but it reads more like he was in breathing distress after he stopped struggling.
That could mean a rib was broken from repeated punching and punctured a lung or his heart, but the autopsy will reveal more information when the results are released.
 
He didn't deserve to die, obviously. But a 17 year old male - that's a full grown male adult body with an immature mind - who was behaving in a manner that required he be restrained. That's polite speak for, he was as violent as fuck.

Have you ever worked in the field? I think not, but I have as a Registered Psychiatric Technician. If you did, you'd know that the staff in a properly regulated psych facility are fully trained in the best non-harmful take-down & restraint methods. It's clear to me that the staff wasn't just poorly trained, but also had issues with anyone bucking their authority. Hence, a boy died.
 
Waiting to see COD on this one. The length of time between when he stopped struggling and actual TOD is conflicting between LE and the State in this article. It could be from positional asphyxia from fighting against restraint, but it reads more like he was in breathing distress after he stopped struggling.
That could mean a rib was broken from repeated punching and punctured a lung or his heart, but the autopsy will reveal more information when the results are released.
I was thinking along the same lines (rib puncturing a lung).

I wonder how long it was from when he screamed get off me I cant breathe to when it actually went silent. Unless they smothered him it wouldn't have been as quick as suggested. Him yelling that implies that he was breathing. You can't talk, never mind yell, if you truly can't breathe.

This was in the linked article. Sounds like he played tough guy right till the end.
Children standing outside in the hallway told investigators they could hear him yelling, “I can take this. That’s the only thing you got? Give me more. I eat those, and I can take those.”
 
The Philadelphia police confirmed that the victim was 17 and black.

This is the problem with media.
Sensationalized this: "and black". Why the fuck do you need to put that in there? Because they had to make people even more "outraged" about the color of this kids skin. In all honesty, the sentence should be "Philadelphia police confirmed the victim was 17." Done, just as upsetting a young man got killed, but it's not as "controversial".

_end rant_
 
This is the problem with media.
Sensationalized this: "and black". Why the fuck do you need to put that in there? Because they had to make people even more "outraged" about the color of this kids skin. In all honesty, the sentence should be "Philadelphia police confirmed the victim was 17." Done, just as upsetting a young man got killed, but it's not as "controversial".

_end rant_

In this case they put it in there because the article mentions the similarities to Eric Garner's case and I had not included that in my cut and paste.
 
During the struggle, the report says, one staff member punched the boy, referred to as Child #1 in the documents, in the ribs multiple times

I can understand punchin someone in the face if they're out of control, perhaps posing a threat to others. Still completely wrong, but it's an understandable wrong. But repeated blows to the body? What's the point? Especially if he's at least partially restrained at the time?

Clearly someone needs to be charged.

Hope the family gets a nice payday.
 

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