Footage showing a Kansas sheriff's deputy handcuffing a boy with disabilities may have caused outrage, but it is far from an isolated incident.
Footage showing a Kentucky sheriff’s deputy handcuffing an eight-year-old boy with disabilities may have caused outrage, but it is far from an isolated incident.
The Department of Education estimates that 50,000 children were forcibly restrained last year.
"And everyone believes that's a gross undercount," American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Matt Coles told INSIDE EDITION.
The Department of Education said that, while students with disabilities make up 12 per cent of students in public schools, they make up 75 percent of the students who are physically restrained by adults in their schools.
Read: Sheriff's Deputy Handcuffed Two Students With Disabilities For Misbehaving, Lawsuit Says
In 2008, a 12-year-old boy was filmed being taken away in handcuffs after throwing sticks at a pregnant guidance counsellor at his school in Orlando, Florida.
A mug shot showed the little boy in tears. He was charged with battery.
In the latest incident, a sheriff’s deputy has been accused of handcuffing an eight-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl at schools in Kansas. Both of the children have ADHD and were punished after failing to do as staff members told them.
“If you want the handcuffs off you're going to have to behave or ask me nicely,” the deputy can be heard telling him.
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The startling video was released by the ACLU.
The organization's lawyer Matt Coles said: “How could anyone think this is the right way to handle an emotionally distraught eight year old?”
He added: “You talk them down. You de-escalate. You get them calmed down. Every parent, every teacher knows that's how you do it.”
The ACLU is now suing over the incident. Meantime, the sheriff’s office said in a statement that the deputy is highly respected and skilled, and they stand by his actions.
Watch Below: Sheriff's Deputy Handcuffed Two Students With Disabilities For Misbehaving, Lawsuit Says
