New legislation restrains discipline in the classroom.

New legislation restrains discipline in the classroom. A FIRST OF ITS KIND, THE Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusionin Schools Act has been introduced to set national standards for thepractices of controlling disruptive and potentially dangerous students.The bill, introduced in the House of Representatives by Labor CommitteeChairman George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers(R-Wash.), and in the Senate by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) in earlyDecember 2009, was in response to two studies revealing hundreds ofcases across the nation of the misuse of restraint and seclusion. Thesemethods were disproportionately being used on students withdisabilities, leaving many traumatized, injured and, in extreme cases,dead. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), comprised ofattorneys who tackle civil rights cases for the disabled, released"School is Not Supposed to Hurt" in January 2009, a studywhich reported scores of cases of abuse against disabled students thatincluded being pent down, strapped to chairs, held in arm locks, andlocked in closets. This triggered interest from Rep. Miller, whocommissioned a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).Its findings, released in May 2009, concurred with those of NDRN,detailing hundreds of allegations of abuse, many ending in civil suitsand criminal convictions. Until now, laws regarding restraint and seclusion have differed bystate. "We looked across the country and saw there were no federallaws," says Greg Kutz, managing director of forensics, audits andspecial investigations for the GAO. "Some states had regulations,while others had none." The bill aims to protect children against improper methods ofrestraint and seclusion by regulating when these techniques can be usedand what training the school faculty must go through. "Children are being restrained for destroying a book orthrowing a pencil," says Jane Hudson, senior staff attorney forNDRN. "These acts don't require the level of restraint beingused." The bill would not ban restraint and seclusion entirely, however,as educators feel they can be necessary when there is severe risk to thestudent or to others. "This is a great piece of legislation that we are highlysupportive of," says Eric Buehlmann, director of public policy atNDRN. "This bill is a good compromise, and we feel comfortablemoving forward with it." Buehlmann hopes the bill will continue to gain sponsors andsuspects it will pass easily in early 2010. CASE STUDIES FROM THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE: * A 14-year-old boy, diagnosed with posttraumatic stress, waskilled in a Texas public school after a 230 lb. teacher lay on top ofhim because he was misbehaving. * Five students, ages 6 and 7, were gagged and duct-taped in aFlorida public school. * A nine-year-old boy in a New York public school was kept in atime-out room for hours at a time for whistling, slouching, and handwaving. * In a West Virginia public school, a four-year-old girl, diagnosedas autistic, suffered bruising after being restrained to a chair withleather straps. From Seclusions and Restraints, May 19, 2009. www.gao.gov