Scary Report

When you were in school, were you ever tied down, restrained in any way, or put in a secluded room for hours? Neither was I. According to this report by the National Disability Rights Network, it's a fairly common practice to deal with students with special needs.

A very detailed report published just last month, starts out, "Whenever we open a newspaper, turn on the television, or go on the Internet these days, we hear about another child dying or being injured in school while being restrained or secluded. Some may think these are isolated incidents, but, when Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies across this country report that school children have been killed, confined, tied up, pinned down, and battered, this is clearly more than an isolated issue — it is one of national concern."

The report chronicles students who have been strapped to chairs — even wheelchairs, held down by adults, grabbed, dragged and left in secluded rooms, handcuffed, locked in closets, and more. They identify extreme cases in virtually every state.

This little, seven-year-old Wisconsin girl died while being restrained and secluded.

You can read the entire report by clicking here. It's a 60-page pdf, and I will confess, I haven't read the whole thing. But I read enough to know it's worth sharing.

Here is a seclusion room in one classroom:




Tell me what you think.

Later,

Mike