If you have ever witnessed a child 'going off' in school, you would realize that the only solution sometimes is restraint. Don't think a cookie cutter solution is possible, because when these children lose it, they are not thinking or acting rationally. It's amazing the destruction a little body can cause when out of control, both to themselves, other students, staff, and surrounding areas.

Posted by Tooger (anonymous) on May 21, 2009 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)

If you want to stop all kinds of bad behavior, simply put video cameras in the class room with a switch that allows teachers to turn them on when things start going badly.

Show a few videos to the parents who think little Johnny is just being a kid or acting up a bit instead of being a constant distraction to the rest of the class, or worse, a danger, and behavior will change drastically.

There are studies and examples of doing just this on school buses and the transformation in behavior was nothing short of stunning. Stop making teachers the fall guys for parents' inability to discipline and teach appropriate behavior to their children.

Posted by AfghanVet (anonymous) on May 21, 2009 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sometimes the teachers are out of control, sometimes the students are. If you want cameras, then it's far better to put cameras in that are always on. Keeps everyone honest.

Posted by jlstapleton (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

So, to be clear, the 1-5 percent of the time a teacher is out of line should be put on par with the 95 percent of the time it's the student? The problem is one of data storage and legal usage of data created. By keeping it on all of the time you are creating a public record with personal information. The point is to document acute bad behavior to clearly demonstrate bad bahavior and to force parents to be more involved in regulating the behavior of their children. The PROBLEM we are trying to solve is classroom stability, not constant oversight.

Posted by AfghanVet (anonymous) on May 22, 2009 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Parents across the nation have found evidence that sometimes teachers "provoke" melt-downs in order to remove a child from the classroom, perhaps because they do not want to "deal" with them. Sometimes students with disabilities are not given adequate or appropriate support in the classroom and students act out in frustration. Sometimes, students in self-contained classrooms develop negative ehaviors simply from watching their classmates being restrained or abused (this happened with my girls - negative behavior stopped when we removed them from the school and sent them to regular daycare). I do not like the fact that restraint and seclusion is done mostly on students with disabilities, those who cannot communicate to mom or dad what is happening to them in school. I daresay most of the bad behavior in schools today is done by students who do not have disabilities. In fact, I just spoke with a bus driver who drove, before retirement, both a short sped bus and the regular bus. She said the kids on the sped bus were infinitely more well-behaved than the kids on the regular bus. She actually wanted to move back to the short bus! So it seems these R S policies are discriminating against students with disabilities, the least among us. I feel as long as teachers are not trained to de-escalate and use positive interventions, they will continue to "abuse" the use of restraint and seclusion. This will be subjective based on the teacher's assessment of the situation. A teacher can always say later that the student was a danger to self or others when in fact the student was simply trying to get away from a verbally abusive teacher or aid. If a student needs to be restrained because he/she is trying to run out of the building, why not keep all doors locked as a matter of policy? Then students don't need to be restrained for this reason. There needs to be "out-of-the-box" thinking, to determine ways to avoid / eliminate restraint altogether. Many high schools already do this for safety issues, with only the front door unlocked with a policeman on constant guard at that door.

Posted by concerned36 (anonymous) on May 23, 2009 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

In my district school doors cannot be locked form the inside while school is in session. Children have to be able to escape during emergencies or we would be cited by the fire marshal.

I think teachers should never restrain, but should call the police if a child is out of control. THAT will get the parents' attention. If you say, "restrain only if the child is 'in danger,'" then the child gets hurt, parents will argue that the child wasn't really in danger and they will sue you.

Posted by dcpsinsider (anonymous) on May 23, 2009 at 6:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Restraint can be used when it has been ARDed. A case example is when a severely disabled student bites himself or herself to the point of bleeding, throws himself or herself to the floor and beats his or her head on the floor to the point of a head injury, attacks another child or an adult with hitting, biting, and scratching. In one example, there are no precursors. In another the precursor may be the desire for a particular food not on the school menu, or a desire to lie down which is not an appropriate behavior in a classroom and when denied the opportunity to lie down a tantrum results. Two adults are required to deal with these situations to keep the student from self injury or from injuring the adults and keeping the student from other students. All action is documented. A school psychologist, a social worker, a school administrator, the teacher, the teaching assistant(s), the parents and others are members of the ARD committee. The manner of restraint is agreed upon by the committee, documention of every incident is required and filed. If at all possible a third adult observes and takes notes or pictures while the incident takes place. (An added note: when incidents of this type take place, all instruction stops.) When a teacher uses physical force to "discipline" or as part of "class management" something is very wrong.

Posted by resa (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 1:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

cameras are an Excellent idea; they keep everyone involved in check. restraints should only be used if the child is going to seriously hurt themselves or someone else otherwise the kid needs to be expelled or go to a "special" school.

Posted by amylwhite12 (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 6:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

response to concerned 36. doors can not be locked it is against the law, it's a fire hazard.
teachers are not adequately trained to deal with kids with behavioral problems, they definitely need to be.

Posted by amylwhite12 (anonymous) on May 24, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Once a child displys this type of behavior he needs to be sent home and stay home. Home school is the answer and I do not want my kids in a school full of this type of behavior. Get rid of them.

Posted by Funnyguyva (anonymous) on May 26, 2009 at 10:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Why do teachers have to be trained to deal w kids w behavorial problems? Don't they have enough to do? Why can't parents raise their children to not act like little prima donna a**holes? Isn't teaching a child to behave the PARENTS' responsibility?

Posted by ms1234 (anonymous) on May 26, 2009 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

since i pay 72% of my taxes for schools, i think that i should be able to go in there and give them a beatdown with 72% of the normal beatdown force i would normally apply

Posted by bthuss (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 10:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The people who cry, "don't restrain students" have NEVER been in a classroom; have never had to deal with a smart-mouth, non-compliant, unruly, spoiled brat that is a direct reflection of the upbringing she/her has had. It is the parents' role to teach discipline, to serve as positive roll-models, to INSURE that their Susie/Sammy conducts herself/himself appropriately. Just because you allow your child to be disrespect and insubordinate to you doesn't mean that she can come to school and do the same thing. It's about time parents starting acting like parents and accepting responsibility for what YOU have created.

Posted by tech.1968 (anonymous) on November 4, 2009 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)