Dec 17, 2019, Washington Examiner: (Opinion)Is it OK for public schools to put misbehaving special-needs children in locked-door seclusion? https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/is-it-ok-for-public-schools-to-put-misbehaving-special-needs-children-in-locked-door-seclusion An eye-opening new stud from the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica revealed that hundreds of Illinois public schools are using the questionable disciplinary practice of locked-door seclusion with special-needs children. The practice of putting children in isolated timeout, known as seclusion, has been going on for many years in schools serving children prone to emotional and behavioral outbursts. In Illinois and 30 other states, it is technically legal to keep students in a separate space by themselves if they pose a safety threat to themselves or others…. The new rules will not totally ban the use of timeouts but do require that children are only put in timeout if a “trained adult” is in the room and the door is unlocked. The board also said timeouts should be used only for “therapeutic” purposes or to protect the safety of students and staff…. If students are committed to hurting themselves or others, the adults, who are also responsible for all of the children around them, have limited options. … …One administrator reported that her district lost its workers compensation insurance because employees were injured so frequently in confrontations with students. Rather than banning a practice and thinking all will be well, it would behoove policymakers to ask why such a seemingly antiquated practice was being used in the first place. Maybe then they can address the real root of this problem.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Loss of Brain Trust features over 9,000 news stories published worldwide since January, 2017
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
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What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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