Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act

As we start thinking about Back to School, I keep thinking about the information I uncovered while researching Senate Bill 2860 - Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act that I wrote about in this post. Did you know that children are being harmed and killed in our schools?  Consider the following incidents.  Please note that I've only provided a few examples from across the country that show how children are not protected at school.  To read the many more examples, you can read what was reported here. Deaths resulting from restraint or seclusion: Michigan: A 14 year old middle school student was killed when his teacher held him down, ignoring his plea “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Knowing that the student, with a mental illness and other disabilities, was sensitive to food issues because he had been denied food when he was younger, the teacher sought to punish the student for his aggressive behavior by refusing him lunch. When the student tried to leave the classroom to go to the lunchroom the use of deadly restraint by the teacher ensued.Did you know that children are being harmed and killed in our schools?  Texas:  A seven year old girl was suffocated and killed at a mental health day treatment facility when several adult staff pinned her to the floor in a prone restraint. This child, who was diagnosed with an emotional disturbance and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, died because she was blowing bubbles in her milk and did not follow the time-out rules regarding movement. Wisconsin:  A seven year old girl was suffocated and killed at a mental health day treatment facility when several adult staff pinned her to the floor in a prone restraint. This child, who was diagnosed with an emotional disturbance and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, died because she was blowing bubbles in her milk and did not follow the time-out rules regarding movement. Georgia:  A 13 year old hanged himself in a small concrete-walled, locked seclusion room using a cord provided by a teacher to hold up his pants.  This eighth-grader had pleaded with his teachers that he could not stand being locked within the small seclusion room for hours at a time. The boy had threatened suicide in school a few weeks before his death. Incidents of students getting pinned down, tied up and battered Alabama:  An eight year old boy with autism in the second grade was physically restrained by school staff to manage behavior issues. Arizona:  A five year old boy with autism was repeatedly physically restrained despite his mother’s repeated demands that such restraint be stopped. Arkansas:  Fearful and resisting her removal to the “blue padded room,” an eight year old girl with autism was tied down into a wheelchair by a vice principal who proceeded to wheel the child down the hall and isolate the screaming, terrified little girl in the seclusion room. California:  In a rural school district in California, a ten year old non-verbal boy with multiple disabilities was tied to his wheelchair and left on the school van in the parking lot for hours on two separate days. His wrists were tied to the arms of his wheelchair with components removed from the safety vest used during transport on the van. His legs were bound together at the ankles with a nylon Velcro strap. On an unscheduled visit to the school, his mother was outraged when she found him unsupervised, alone, bound to his wheelchair on the van. Florida:  A behavior tech broke the arm of a boy who has bipolar disorder and autism, while attempting to restrain him. The boy suffered a "spiral fracture to the upper right arm," according to emergency room staff. He was taken to his after school program by a bus aide who told police he cried the entire ride. But she said she “didn't take (the boy) seriously because he behaves this way all the time." His after school program discovered a red swollen arm and abrasions on his face. A teacher not involved in the incident told police she found the boy alone in the classroom, laying on the floor crying. Hawaii:  Discovering bruises on her daughter’s hips, a mother contacted the school where they admitted that the seven year old girl with developmental disabilities and deafness was frequently tied to her chair, her hearing device removed by school personnel, because she would not stay in her seat. The bruises were caused by the strap used to tie the girl down. Illinois:  A mother strenuously objected to her three year old son being routinely restrained in a positional support chair. Her son, who has severe autism and is non-verbal, was restrained by straps in the chair or by utilizing the tray to restrict his movements. After reaching agreement with the school that the positional support chair would only be used for its therapeutic purpose, the parent was dismayed to observe her three year old restrained in the chair again, unattended, and with no school activities being provided to him. Kansas:  A three year old boy with autism didn’t know the rules of sitting during certain times in a publicly funded preschool. After two days the teacher, and the staff decided that he was too much to keep up with, so they put him in a chair intended to provide postural support children to children who are physically disabled. He remained in the chair for varying amounts of time. Often he sat while the other children were playing or doing group activities. All he could do was sit beside the wall and watch. He could not get up because he was strapped in this stiff wooden chair. Kentucky:  A six year old boy diagnosed with bipolar disorder was forced to sit in a partitioned area of his classroom. When behavior issues erupted in the classroom three school personnel, all males, came into the classroom and physically dragged the child out of the school and into a van. He was taken to his therapist’s office so that she could see how “bad” he was. If you want Senate Bill 2860 to pass, please call your State Senator and ask them to support this bill.