School Is Not Supposed to Hurt: Report on the Use of Seclusion & Restraints

by Kristina Chew · 2009-01-15 14:00:00 UTC
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Hallway of school with doors by Wrote
An article in the July 2008 New York Times reported that the use of restraints is increasing in public schools in the US and that such restraints are also being used more and more on students in mainstream classrooms.

Restraints such as the basket hold were used frequently on my son Charlie in a public school district (not the one where he currently attends school) and there have been lasting effects on him as a result.

On January 13th on Capitol Hill, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) unveiled a national report on the use of seclusion and restraint in U.S. schools and called on the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress to introduce a national ban on seclusion and prone restraint practices in schools throughout the US. The report is entitled "School Is Not Supposed to Hurt" and can be accessed here (as a PDF file); this is from a press release issued by the NDRN:

The report is a compilation of cases outlined by NDRN's 57-member network of protection and advocacy (P&As) systems nationwide. The report details deaths and physical and emotional injuries inflicted on students ranging from kindergarten to high school from schools across the country. It also outlines inconsistent state laws, lack of training for teachers and virtually no government oversight or investigation of the issue.

Speakers attending the media briefing include U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), NDRN Executive Director Curt Decker, and families of loved ones who were physically restrained or placed in seclusion while attending schools.

For more information, see the NDRN's contact page and also this video on seclusion and restraints.

Seclusion and restraints are inhumane practices that have been unjustly and unnecessarily used on students, on children, and on children on the autism spectrum in public schools in the US. Such practices have caused permanent harm. It's inconceivable that children, and especially children with disabilities, are being subjected to isolation in timeout rooms---sometimes for hours----and prone restraint in public school in the US; to practices that are, in essence, forms of punishment and, it can be argued, even torture. How could school personnel in Idaho decide to handcuff an 8-year-old Idaho girl, after restraining her?

Photo by Wrote.

Kristina Chew
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