@dyslexia,
dyslexia wrote:
This seclusion room is where a 13 year old boy hung himself. Officials say it is no longer in use. According to Tuesday's report by the Government Accountability Office, more special education teachers than once thought are crossing the line between discipline and child abuse. The GAO found that there were not only no federal laws that determined appropriate use of seclusion or restraints,
[as if there were a jurisdictional predicate for federal control of this]
but also that state laws varied widely. There is also no entity, government or otherwise, who is responsible for keeping track of the types of seclusion or restraints or the possible abuse of these methods.
The GAO did find, however, hundreds of cases from the last twenty years that pointed to alleged child abuse and even death due to the misuse of restraints and seclusion. Most of the time, however, little is done for the teachers or the students who have suffered. In fact, out of ten cases in which a sentence was handed down (either a conviction, a finding of liability, or a large monetary settlement) teachers from five of those cases continue to teach. Here are some examples of these cases:
A 14-year-old boy with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) was held face down on the floor by a teacher who was 100 lbs heavier than the student. The student died. What did the student do to deserve this? He would not stay seated in class. While the death was ruled a homicide, the teacher was never indicted and now teaches in another state.
A volunteer teacher's aid in Florida gagged and duct-taped five children aged five and six years old for misbehaving. Not only was the aide on probation for burglary and cocaine possession, but the school had no records indicating that they ran a background check on him. He pled guilty to false imprisonment and battery.
A 13-year-old Georgia boy hung himself after being left in seclusion for hours at a time. At last check, the state is still trying to decide if the case has enough merit to go before a jury.
Many special education teachers insist that there are appropriate uses of both seclusion and restraints, especially in the case where a child is going to harm himself or others in the room. The problem is, that none of the ten cases that the GAO highlights in their report involved a violent child.
Dr. Roger Pierangelo (Executive Director for the National Association of Special Education Teachers) says that Teachers have not been trained to handle the large influx of children with special needs. The United States is educating more that a half million more special needs students than it did just ten years ago. "When you have an out-of-control student threatening your class -- it's not right and it can be very damaging -- but seclusion is used as a 'quick fix' in many cases." he says.
Part of the problem has been that the general public doesn't even know that these methods are being used in the classrooms. Hopefully, shedding some light on these situations will move the public to action.
Don 't u wish to cite the source of this article?
Several years ago, the chief judge of a court with which I have had some familiarity,
informed all the judges that an unsuccessful litigant in that court had committed suicide,
after sending the chief judge a denunciatory note. The judge who had presided over
the bench trial in question had taken this news unduely emotionally and personally.
(He described himself, an Italian, as being an emotional fellow.) He took some time off.
I subsequently pointed out to him, on his return that your decision in a bench trial
(where u don 't have a jury to help u by deciding the relevant facts) must be rendered
upon the merits of the case whose facts and law r before u for adjudication,
not on your prediction of how well a litigant will take your decision.
I reminded him that people have been committing suicide since long b4 he was born;
litigants do not necessarity need
him to motivate them to suicide.
I consoled him that the fact that he had been the presiding judge
at trial is not necessarily going to keep anyone alive who chooses otherwise.
(Indeed, a trial judgette formerly of my acquaintance, was presiding over another trial,
one of whose litigants hanged herself in the ladies room during trial.
Litigation can be stressful both upon trial counsel and litigants.)
I pointed out that he had no way of knowing what went on
between the decedent 's ears during his final moments.
I was of opinion that suicides are preferable to what befell
Judge Richard Daronco in 1988, who was assassinated
in his backyard by the father of a dissatisfied litigant.
In the case to which u have cited of the 13 year old boy
who hanged himself, presumably it fell to the teacher
to decide whether there was a need to separate him from
the other students, depending upon
what was going on.
It might be possible that the boy needed to be held under observation,
but that is a lot easier to determine in hindsight, in fairness to the teacher.
David
And I agree - who decides when a person is "too severely disabled"? It's a tough call.
