State considers broader use of force in classrooms

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AutismLink wrote: Brought to you by AutismLink State considers broader use of force in classrooms Click-2-Listen By LAURA GREEN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/08/29/a1b_restraint_0830.html Friday, August 29, 2008 Educators could use physical force to maintain a "safe and orderly learning environment" under a proposed state Board of Education rule. State law already allows school officials to restrain special education students who are deemed a danger to themselves or others. The proposed rule would extend the use of force to any student and is drawing criticism from parents across the state. The 30-line rule does not define the term "force" and leaves open to interpretation the circumstances under which it would be allowed. It says force can be used to protect students from conditions harmful to their learning, mental health, physical health and safety or in cases of harm, injury or the significant damage of property. The rule would not require that parents be informed if a school staff member has used force on their child. In a hearing Tuesday, Florida parents, mostly of special education children, testified that the proposed state rule could leave their children open to physical abuse. Special education parents had hoped the state would use the rule to limit, if not ban, the use of prone restraint, the most restrictive type, in which a child is taken facedown to a mat by two or more adults and held. "There have been children and adults both that have died from the use of prone restraints," said

Palm Beach County parent Phyllis Musumeci, who pulled her autistic son from district schools when she learned he had been restrained 65 times. "It's a very dangerous restraint," she said. "And I don't understand why schools are even considering using this type of a restraint on a child with a disability when ... mental facilities and psychiatric facilities are trying to get away from this type of restraint." The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare banned the practice in its youth treatment centers after reports surfaced that prone restraint was blamed for the deaths of more than 70 children across the nation since 1993. The Palm Beach County School Board was criticized last year for its use of prone restraint, used only on special education children, and its reporting practices. Since then, the board has adopted stricter policies. If a teacher restrains a child, he is required to inform the parent and explain the

circumstances surrounding the decision. The proposed state rule would allow only "the minimal force necessary to prevent undue harm or injury to the student(s) or others or significant damage to property." It also states that the force should "not be used as an instrument for the educator's anger or frustration with a situation or student." But the wording was not comfort enough for some parents. "It sounds as though what we are doing is in a sense legitimizing the physical handling and potential abuse of our children," said parent Suzy Girard of Boca Raton. She compared the proposed rule to "throwing grease on a kitchen fire." The state Board of Education will vote on the rule, its first governing the use of reasonable force, on Oct. 21. Join our listserv! Don't get your news second hand! Get

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