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CBS5
Some Calif. Schools Locking Children
In Closets
CBS Investigates "The Quiet Room"
By Anna Werner
June 27, 2008
Locking children in closets doesn't
sound like something that could possibly happen in California's
school system. But CBS 5 Investigates has uncovered evidence that it
is a hidden problem, not reported by schools, and unknown to many
parents.
A closet in a classroom that brings
the memories back for a student we will call Chris.
"The door is closed, it's totally
dark. There is a little tiny beam of light that comes under the
door, but that's it." Chris told CBS 5 Investigates. When he was
asked if he was trapped, he responded, "Pretty much."
Chris was a 6th grader at
Mendenhall Middle School in Livermore. Despite his high IQ,
behaviors resulting from a diagnosis of ADHD landed him in a special
education class. He quickly discovered that anything considered
'misbehavior', like getting up out of your chair or not completing
class assignments meant a trip to the closet.
"You really don't understand what
it's like until you actually go through it," Chris said.
He says he was put in the "Quiet
Room" a lot, and there was no getting out. "They would sit on the
door so you couldn't get out and then sometimes they would put a
chair up against the door," Chris recalled. "I sat in there for a
whole school day one time."
And once, he tried to resist going
in and a teacher got physical.
"He twisted my arm up behind my
back and then he just pushed me and I hit the wall pretty hard,"
Chris said. "I felt intimidated kind of, because I mean he is bigger
than me and he knows that."
How can that happen? Most parents
can't imagine it: Their child shut into a room, sometimes as small
as a closet. Under California law, it's only supposed to happen if
the child is a danger to themselves or others. But advocates tell
CBS 5 Investigates it's happening far more frequently than that.
Leslie Morrison is an investigator
with Protection and Advocacy Inc., a non-profit that works with the
disabled. "I think it's an enormous problem," she said. "In all of
the cases that we investigated, the underlying incident that
triggered restraint and seclusion is non-compliance with staff
direction. They didn't do what the teacher asked them to do."
For example, there is a fenced area
that looks kind of like a dog run at the John F. Kennedy School near
Modesto. A U.S. Department of Education investigation found children
were left here without access to a toilet, water or food, even some
who had medical conditions including diabetes, seizures and asthma.
"Seclusion is very psychologically
traumatizing, especially for children. Children fear being locked in
a closet," Morrison said.
And it's not just seclusion.
Morrison said teachers also sometimes physically restrain children
improperly. Such as a 6-year-old who came home with duct tape on his
clothing. It was used to literally tie him into a chair at a school
in Southern California.
And staff at many schools also
engage in so-called "take downs." Morrison said, "The most common
one is face down on the floor and then you lean into their back or
sides so that they can't breathe."
But Morrison said without proper
training, "As the child is struggling to breathe the person is
holding them down on the floor to stop the struggling. And what
happens is you actually stop them breathing."
Morrison's group is backing SB
1515, legislation by California State Senator Sheila Kuehl that
would limit restraints and ban seclusion. But some who work in the
field oppose it.
Carroll Schroeder heads the
California Alliance of Child and Family Services, a lobbying group
for non-profit providers which opposes SB 1515. "If and when the
time comes, you need to have at least those two options available to
you," Schroeder said. "If those kids don't have that option of that
room, either the schools call the police, and the police will pick
them up, or they will be suspended from school."
But not according to Frank Marone,
a recognized behaviorist with B*E*T*A Behavior Education Training
Associates. The group works with students with disabilities. "We
have been able to illustrate that restraint is not necessary," he
said.
They work with students such as
Mario McMillan, who is autistic. "He would start hitting, throwing
chairs, throwing his shoes," his mother Rufina McMillan told CBS 5
Investigates. At his former private school in Oakland, Spectrum,
documents show teachers physically restrained McMillan on numerous
occasions.
"I was very worried," Rufina
McMillan said. "Maybe he would stop breathing."
But at the Via school, where Mario
goes to school now, and where Marone trains teachers only positive
behavior techniques and not to use restraint or seclusion, a big
change. "He's calm now, totally calm," his mother said.
Meanwhile, Chris is now
home-schooled and doing better. But he said that he can't forget
that closet. "Human beings aren't supposed to be treating each other
like that, you know," Chris said. "I mean it's just not supposed to
happen."
After Chris's family filed a
complaint, the Livermore School District shut his special education
program down. John F. Kennedy School in Modesto said they have
changed their practices as a result of the government investigation.
As for Spectrum, they say they use safe and approved techniques to
restrain students when there is danger.
Editor's Note: The following are
statements from schools reacting to the CBS 5 Investigates report on
children being restrained or shut into closets at California
schools.
Statement by Chris Holmes
Regional Director, West Spectrum Center Schools
The emotional and physical
well-being of our students and staff are paramount and we do
everything humanly possible to safeguard them. Our students have
significant, complex needs and our staff is specially trained to
respond to students in an appropriate therapeutic manner. For
example, we redirect students' behavior by encouraging them to take
a short break with a staff member or participate in some other
activity that allows them to re-engage the required educational
task. At times, the Individual Education Program (IEP) team,
including parents and school district representatives, may determine
that seclusion is necessary for occasions when a student is in
severe crisis and may seriously injure himself or others.
In other cases, staff members
employ safe and approved hands-on, non-mechanical techniques to help
manage a student who is in danger of causing serious injury to
himself or others. In all cases, these actions are taken with the
student's safety, dignity and privacy as our most important
priorities.
Statement by Jane Johnston
Assistant Superintendent Stanislaus County Office of Education
We worked with an outside expert
consultant to review practices at John F. Kennedy School (JFK). As a
result we have increased documentation of responses to student
behaviors and training for staff over the last year. While rarely
used as a behavioral management strategy, escorting a student to an
area where they can calm down rather than physically restraining
them is often the best option. It is also often the most dignified
and respectful option, as well as the safest for students and staff.
We continue to be very proud of
our program which focuses on positive behavioral interventions. Our
students (approximately 57 out of the 14,000 special education
students in Stanislaus County) are severely handicapped and
behaviorally challenged. While their behavior problems have impeded
their ability to be successful in their home schools, they make
significant progress at JFK.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc.
All Rights Reserved.)
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