leave no child un-stunned

State authorities have given a controversial special education school in Canton (Mass) a one-year extension of its authority to use electric shock treatments on students, provided the center makes a series of significant changes.


Among them, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center must prove that it uses shock treatments only for the most dangerous and self-destructive behaviors and that the aversive therapy actually led to a reduction of those harmful actions.

The center must also stop electric shocks for "seemingly minor infractions," such as getting out of a seat without approval or swearing. And it must show greater commitment to phasing out shock treatments, especially for those about to leave the school to enter mainstream society.

Past reauthorizations have been for two years, rather than the one year given this time.

Jean McGuire, assistant secretary of the state's Office of Health and Human Services, said the state has issued this conditional reauthorization well aware of the events last August in which two teenagers wrongfully received dozens of electrical shocks at the direc tion of a caller posing as a supervisor. The caller told staff to wake up the teenagers and give them dozens of shocks each based on alleged behavior that had occurred at least five hours earlier.

McGuire said the center has promised to eliminate delayed punishments and end the delivery of shocks to students who are sleeping. While the school's critics want the state to ban any form of shock treatment, McGuire said the state also had to consider the many parents who defend the school as the only effective place for their hard-to-teach youngsters.

The decision follows however an incident on Aug. 26, when two emotionally disturbed students (aged 16 and 19), were given shocks after a prank call from a false supervisor. Both of them had to be treated for first-degree burns, after being applied electric shocks in the middle of the night, while having their arms and legs bound.

Although the situation for which the two were punished was unclear, the Educational Center staff did nothing to stop it. According to a report released by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, the six employees on duty that night had reasons to doubt the caller's orders, but instead they preferred not to investigate and directly apply the punishment.