Report: Kids are restrained, secluded

Report: Kids are restrained, secluded

http://seattlepi. nwsource. com/national/ 1153ap_restraini ng_kids.html

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Schoolchildren across the U.S. have been injured or killed
when they were restrained or secluded, a disability rights group says. A
House committee announced a hearing on the issue.

The National Disability Rights Network, in a report Tuesday, identified
cases across the country in which children, many of them with disabilities,
were traumatized, injured or killed at school.

For example, 15-year-old Michigan boy with autism died while being
restrained by four school employees, the report said.

In another case, a 13-year-old Georgia boy hanged himself in a locked
concrete seclusion room after pleading with teachers not to isolate him for
hours at a time.

The group said its report "is clearly just the tip of the iceberg" because
the government doesn't have any system of collecting data about these
abuses.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor
Committee, said he would schedule a hearing on the issue.

"This report raises serious questions about the treatment of schoolchildren,
the qualifications and training of staff, and what actions have been taken
to address these unconscionable practices," Miller said. "No child should be
at risk or in danger while at school, no matter what the circumstances. "

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