Student, 7, Held On Baker Act After Tantrum

Boy Accused Of Battering School Administrator
February 15, 2009

LARGO, Fla. -- The parents of a 7-year-old in Largo are outraged their child was taken out of school and hospitalized under a state mental health law.

The boy spent a night at Morton Plant Hospital before being seen by a child psychologist. Under Florida's Baker act, authorities can hospitalize someone involuntarily if they're a serious threat to themselves or others.

Authorities said the boy threw a tantrum so severe in his second-grade class that it had to be evacuated. He allegedly stepped on a teacher's foot, tore up the room and "battered" a school administrator.

The boy's mother, Barbara Smith, said she could have corrected the situation but was not given that opportunity. She said she's now keeping the boy and his 9-year-old sister out of school because they're "scared to death" to return.