Children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms

reply to post by eradown


Whatever the cause of the mental problem, it's not right to throw these kids in these holes. A society is judged by how it treats it's weakest members, and apparently we aren't treating them too well.

Right now, it's either the mentally disabled kids get trauma from going to school because of things like this, or they get homeschooled and none of this happens. Hmmmmm... This boy probably wouldn't have died if he stayed where he seemed to be happy. So it it negligence from the school, or the parents? I say both.

reply to post by Yoda411


I just wanted to say: well put, Yoda411. Well put.

It's beyond my comprehension that anyone in their right mind would condone, and even try to justify this.

How, after the advances in research and the surge of human rights and improved living with good programs in the 70s and 80s would anyone have allowed this disintegration to the dark ages? I've never heard of such a thing, and in Canada, such restraints would be criminal. They need to hire the special needs teachers. Its like something from a third world.

reply to post by mystiq


Agreed I think some extra teachers are needed. It's too bad this had to happen but maybe it will be a wake up call.

reply to post by mystiq


They do have ONE LD teacher in the room for sometimes 10-15 kids. If they are lucky there is one other aid that cannot intervene when there is trouble. My ex-girl friend worked as an LD aid. She could not help in any way other than to parrot what the teacher said and help with reading. All other disiplinary and medical problems had to be handled by the teacher or, if it got out of hand they had to go get another teacher from another classroom. The reason the aid could not help is because many where hurt and they did not want to pay for medical or Workers comp. Its the dollar being saved by the school board thats the problem. To mainstream these kids in all cases is simply an ignorant idea. Some of the kids could not function at all. They where in wheel chairs and on ventilators and at least two where considered brain dead but still the parents used main streaming so they could work instead of take care of their own kids. Its a morass that is causeing many more problems thatn its helping!

Zindo

PS. for those that don't know LD mean 'Learning Disabled'!

[edit on 12/18/2008 by ZindoDoone]

Originally posted by Layla
reply to post by Sonya610

 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by your response, considering your hatred of children that you spew all over this board.

Did you consider that perhaps they DIDN'T know about the violence? Perhaps the school didn't report it, just as they didn't tell the parents they'd been locking their son up in a cell?

Sometime's it IS the adults who are wrong and not the nasty little children you so despise.

The fact of the matter is, locking a 13 yr old in a cell, at school, teaches nothing positive. It certainly doesn't teach him to be less violent, if that was truly what was happening. A school that is set up to help special needs children needs to employ teachers qualified to actually DEAL with them instead of giving the teachers a cell to lock the difficult ones in and ignore.

Layla, you can say that again. What Sonya doesn't realize is that this is what happens when teachers don't understand kids and have NO BUSINESS TEACHING.

As a child in 2nd grade, I was put in a box every day of school, because my teacher didn't want to deal with me. My mother had no idea that this was going on because I thought it was what I was supposed to be doing.

When she asked one day after it had been happening for about two weeks, what was going on in school I told her I didn't know because it was hard to hear through the box.

She immediately removed me from school, got a tutor who determined that I was working at 12th grade math levels and had 9th grade reading skills. Turns out I was just bored, and stared out into space, and the teacher didn't like it.. so she put me in a box,

Sonya is no better than that teacher.




[edit on 18-12-2008 by HunkaHunka]

Originally posted by HunkaHunka
Sonya is no better than that teacher.

LOL...hardly. I am not a teacher, I would never work in such an environment.

Though a few years ago I had a friend that took a job as a school bus driver. She was an older lady and quite capable. She ended up transporting severely handicapped special needs kids to school. Some of those children were completely out of it, wheel chair confined and incapable of communicating in any significant way, they were sent to school everyday because their parents/caregivers needed a break and wanted them out of the house.

She was very very tolerant and capable, but the stories she told were really sad. Some of those kids could not verbalize, but they would frequently hit/kick/bite if they were agitated or in some cases if anyone got close enough. Some were extremely disturbed, yet they were funneled right into the public school system. The system does not provide a caretaker for every handful of children, if a teacher has 20 kids to deal with, and no real help, they are in a bad situation.

If the kids are violent and tormenting other children then the teachers need help, it is not fair to blame it on the lone teacher trying to manage a group of 20 kids and also manage the violent tendencies that ONE child inflicts on those other students. It is so easy to blame it on the teacher, but what are they supposed to do? They would also get flack if the violent child harmed OTHER children while under their supervision.

The teachers and administrators involved in this should be thrown in jail - where they will likely be treated better than they treated this child.

I hope they spend years locked in a Cell. After they get their Jury Trial they will be placed in detention. This is where they belong.

Of course, that wouldn't happen and is only a fantasy of mine. In reality they will probably not receive any jail time and will get to keep their careers.

I hope the other prisoners are made aware of the crimes against children these people committed - the cell wasn't built for one child alone. Even if it was, they still deserve their Jury Trial...

The other prisoners always find out what each other is in for. The guards tell them when child predators and the like are being brought in. Don't think they don't.

reply to post by Sonya610


There are really crazy stories about kids. But not all crazy stories about teachers mean bad kids.

That's my point which is contrary to what you stated.


As I said before, I was put in a box for simply staring out the window because I was bored in 2nd grade. Hardly kicking, biting, screaming...

I still have not figured out why society is forced to cope with the mentally retarded. I see no reason that normal people should be forced to interact with the mentally disabed. That's what asylums or "mental instutions" are for. These by-products of humanity should be sequestered away so as not to interfere with civilization. In the past, a retarded child would have either not survived or even been killed by the parents. While I don't advocate anything that extreme, and what that teacher did went against societal values, but this is the only "real" solution to the retarded.

I live in Southern GA, and while I was working with special children my group was children that are on the other end of disable children, mine were what they call the "smart gifted kids" what many do not understand is that many of this children are also special need children.

I have various problems with some of then but not as bad as describe in the article.

The disable and exceptional children program in the school I was teaching at the moment was nothing like the link describe.

Special need teachers had help all the time, many of the children had assigned personal tutors to work one on one with them in the classroom, they would take care of their bathroom needs and personal needs as some of the children needed diapers.

This was in Junior high, when the children misbehave they were send home plain and simple, the mother or guardian was call they would go home.

I never encounter any of the describe problems in the story.

And I am talking about public schools here in the South that are specifically chosen to take this children in the curriculum, occurs with more funding to the schools.

reply to post by ShadeWolf
What comes around goes around. When your time comes you will feel quite differently about the attitude that is exhibited towards the frail in this country/world. The crazy, the retarded, and the old are canaries in the coal mine. When they start to die, you know your time is coming. We give mercy ,because all of us one day will need mercy.

How nice of you all to party on in this thread.
When mine was started first.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by eradown


What you say is true but, on the other end of the spectrum, you have children or even young adults who need so much attension in the mainstream enviornment that the other students in the classroom suffer from lack of attension and their grades suffer. These kids in many schools are right in the same class as the Non- disabled (for lack of another term)!
Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to do this but its a disaster.
Zindo

reply to post by ZindoDoone
On the other side of the coin, you have kids who are falsely labeled learning disabled because the school districts recieve extra money for each learning disabled child. Kids who stutter , are left handed ,or just plain poor have been mislabeled. Once the districts recieve this money they do not have to account for what is done with the money.

However there has been a rise in real learning disabilities. Autism has risen dramatically. Kids diagnosed with autism have a 50% chance of making a complete recovery if ABA is used early enough. This means they do not need extra help completing their lessons. They have problems making friends which special education can not help them with and special classrooms are the last thing that people who are capable of learning need.Only 10% of the autistic population never learn to communicate. The other 40% of autistics can be educated and trained.

I agree with those who say homeschooling is a better option, mostly ,because factory schools are becoming more prison like and more abusive; I do not trust them with any child much less a fragile one.




[edit on 18-12-2008 by eradown]

reply to post by ShadeWolf



The Nazi SS would be proud of your stand. You are to be pittied. Your form of "humanity" is not mine. I hope you experience a life changing problem in the future which will make you more inclined towards empathy for your fellow man. God have mercy on you.

Lot of abuse going on in American Schools. I suggest there should be student proctor from the most senior class selected by students who should have direct access to the Principal of School any time. This proctor should be discharged with responsibility of a two way communication who should inform the principal of anything going on. Bad apples must immediately be seperated from school system. I am an immigrant here. Where I went to school, we considered our teachers to be our 2nd parents. We respected them that way. I trusted the school system here and my kids suffered the abuse. I wish I knew them in time. For example in sub-zero weather a teacher would keep outside window open expositing kids to cold. Turned out that the teacher was Bypolar. You would think that the school system would investigate it and put a stop to it. Instead they tried to cover it. I can give you many examples. My kids are grown up but this article kind of freshened my injuries. On the same token too much interference from the parents is also not healthy. Principal should be like a Captain of a ship. He should be accountable for the ship and the crew.

reply to post by eradown


No argument with you there. Playing the game by administrators in financial matters is the elephant in the room. I was mearly arguing that mainstreaming the learning disabled is wrong and that teachers need to stand up and say no more and NOT use tactics such as the OP to controll the situation. The NEA is the real culprit in al of this. They want all the benefits and won't even take a look at this problem because its PC.
Zindo

I think my first question would be, if this child was placed in this room on 31 other occasions for behavioral issues, why wasn't his parents notified? This leads me to believe they will be falsifying documentation in order to lend credence to their actions.

My second question would be, why would anyone capable of cognitive thought give a child a cord to put around their pants, what is this the Beverly Hillbillies education department?

Third, if these teachers (I use that term VERY loosely) knew this child was autistic and had mentioned suicide in the past, why would they leave him in ANY environment unsupervised, not to mention giving him a cord? One can only speculate that the teacher was frustrated and told the kid to go hang himself in seclusion or something similar.

Being a psychologist myself I can not see where this would have any positive benefit to the child and my area of expertise is applied behavioral analysis (ABA board certified). This is counter product to the behavior and would only serve to frustrate and demean the child. These children are referred to as special needs children for a reason, it is not just some title that a teacher places on a child they think is stupid.

Some other questions I would like answers to are: Exactly which teacher at this school is qualified as a judge and has the authority to sentence a child to confinement? Why was the principle of the school not (seemingly) involved in this decision and is he qualified by the ABA to make decisions on treatment of an autistic child? There are in fact a very small number of people, psychologist included, that are board certified and legally qualified to work with issues such as this. I would like to see the staff member's qualifications to handle this situation.

I would highly suggest to anyone who reads this that is a parent that they demand to know if such facilities as this exists in your child's school, if they deny you the information, I would inform them that in fact (if it is a public school) that they are standing upon public property and you have every right to this information and if it is not provided, you will remove your child from their school immediately, pending review from a representative of the court. Also you do have the right to home school your child (in almost every state) and the school receives approximately 18 thousand dollars in federal assistance for every child in their school (this is why the classrooms are so full, yes just as everything else, it's all about money).

If they think the child has a behavior problem, they really need to evaluate their own behavioral patterns as one could easily come to the conclusion that it is in fact they themselves whom have the behavioral issues. The only reason that they will ever be allowed to continue such behavior, is because we as the parents will not do anything. Remember when you ignore inappropriate behavior you in fact condone it by default. This is refereed to as silent approval.

[edit on 12/18/2008 by DarrylGalasso]