US legislators consider law for preventing abusive restraint and seclusion

The US Congress is considering legislation to prevent abusive restraint and seclusion of students in schools. This is a welcome consequence of the highly visible reports about terrible abuses of students’ right to be free from harm. However, as much as I support this initiative, it is important to make clear that the laws (and regulations resulting from them) must be crafted carefully.

Here’s some text from the press efforts by the US House of Representatives about this important legislation. I follow it with a cautious support of the law.

The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) is the first national effort to address this troubling problem and ensure the safety of everyone involved – both students and school staff. It would establish minimum safety standards in schools and increase transparency, oversight and enforcement to prevent future abuse, among other things. Learn more here: http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/12/preventing-harmful-restraint-a.shtml.

WHAT: Full Committee Mark-Up of H.R. 4247 “The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act”

WHEN: Thursday, February 4, 2009
11:00 a.m. ET

WHERE: House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room
2175 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Educators definitely should not be employing abusive behavior management techniques or procedures. (I find both “techniques” and “procedures” to be inappropriate choices of words for what I see as “reactions” to students’ behavior; I actually hope that educators would employ systematic “techniques” and “procedures” rather than ad hoc reactions to difficult behavior management situations.) They should be developing and practicing implementation of high-quality crisis -intervention procedures so that when they encounter one of these difficult situations (and they are quite difficult, in my experience), they know how to react calmly and carefully. There’s no need to do violence on students. There is a need to keep students from doing violence on others. These competing concerns must be balanced.

I hope the legislation promotes reasoned and humane treatment of children and youths with disabiilties. I also hope that US citizens will advise their representatives that this legislation should be crafted so that it does not preclude educators (and others charged with supervision of children and youth) from preventing individual students from harming others.