Florida Teacher Arrested for Allegedly Putting 3-year-old with Autism in Chokehold

The Urgent Need for Better Crisis Management Training in Early Childhood Education

In a recent, disturbing incident, a Florida teacher was arrested after reportedly placing a 3-year-old student with autism in a chokehold during story time—an act that has sparked outrage and concern across the community. While the initial reports suggest a grave misuse of physical restraint, a closer examination reveals a scenario involving the teacher using her feet to hold the student while reading to the class. This clarification, however, does not diminish the severity or the inappropriateness of the act.

This incident highlights a significant and troubling pattern within our educational systems—a lack of adequate training and resources for educators, particularly in handling behavioral challenges and crisis situations. It’s not the first time an educator, presumably with intentions of maintaining order or safety, has resorted to extreme measures due to inadequate training or understanding. Good people, when placed in challenging situations without proper tools or knowledge, can inadvertently engage in harmful behaviors.

The question we must ask is not just about the appropriateness of the actions taken but about the preparedness of our educators. What training do they receive in crisis management? How are they taught to handle students with special needs, particularly those who might exhibit challenging behaviors?

Professional Crisis Management training provides clear guidelines that strictly prohibit any form of immobilization that risks injury, restricts breathing, or applies undue pressure on any part of a student's body. Moreover, it emphasizes prevention, focusing heavily on the use of positive reinforcement to teach and reinforce desirable behaviors, and is fluency-based to ensure that interventions are not only effective but also executed competently under stress.

However, the reality remains that many educators are frequently left to rely on a limited repertoire of responses when faced with behavioral challenges. This limited "bag of tricks" can lead to decisions that are not only ineffective but dangerous. It is imperative, therefore, that we advocate for and invest in comprehensive training programs that equip educators with the skills and knowledge to handle such situations appropriately and safely.

Investing in robust crisis management training for educators is not just about preventing incidents like the one in Florida but about transforming our approach to education in a way that respects the dignity and safety of all students. By focusing on prevention and skill development and by ensuring that our teachers are fluent in these practices, we can create educational environments where safety and learning go hand in hand.

As we process this incident, let us channel our outrage not just into accountability but also into advocacy for better training and support for our educators so they can better support our children with special needs. It's not enough to demand better from our teachers; we must also provide them with the tools to do better. Only then can we ensure that our educational spaces are safe, supportive, and effective for every student.

Now, it might be tempting to view our emphasis on specific training methods as self-promotion, but this isn't the case. If you look through our content, you will see that we provide a ton of free content with no strings attached. However, we are deeply committed to our training programs because we believe they make a genuine difference. Many current crisis management trainings are not fluency-based, which leads to rapid forgetting of critical skills—sometimes within days. This lack of enduring competence isn’t just a disservice to the educators; it’s a profound failure to the students who rely on them. Handing out a certificate at the end of a session often amounts to nothing more than proof of attendance, not a testament to real ability. Unlike such programs, Professional Crisis Management (PCM), grounded in the science of human behavior, insists on rigorous, fluency-based training that verifies competency through repeated practical demonstration, ensuring that educators are not only trained but truly prepared to prevent behaviors from escalating and act effectively and safely in a crisis.

If you'd like to learn more about Professional Crisis Management, reach out to moreinfo@pcma.com. Our behavior analysts are standing by.