How Public Schools Treat Special Needs Students: Handcuffs, ‘Scream Rooms’ And Duct Tape

Duct Tape - Public DomainU.S. public schools have become houses of horror for many special needs students. According to the Virginia Commission on Youth, special needs students account for only 12 percent of all public school students in the United States, but they “represent 75 percent of those physically restrained and 58 percent of those secluded“.  At some schools, physical restraints used on special needs children include handcuffs, duct tape and bungee cords. And often the scream rooms that these children are “isolated” in are so horrifying that it scars many of them for life. One of the key measures for any society is how it treats those that are most vulnerable.  And the way that we are treating our special needs children is sorely lacking.  Hopefully articles like this one will help bring awareness and change. (Read More...)