Scared of School: The harsh reality of failing to meet children’s needs

By Antonio Roblero

Unfortunately, today it is safe to assume most of us have seen the disturbing visual of humans being pinned and restrained in the name of “maintaining order”, but how many of us have seen these violent acts carried out against the children in our schools? 

While many stories have mobilized the general public in other instances of excessive restraint, national acknowledgement of restraint and seclusion used across the education system has stalled in comparison. I spoke with the leader of the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint (AASR), Guy Stephens, who very quickly highlighted the weight of this recurring injustice within the education system. In response to the traumatic experiences of his neurodivergent son who was subject to restraint and seclusion as a young student, Guy has become a leading advocate against these practices in our education system. What has become evident in data pulled by the U.S. Department of Education, is that schools across the nation continue to use these outdated behavioral responses that disproportionately affect students with disabilities and racial minorities. 

So what do the terms restraint and seclusion actually mean? Federally, the use of these methods have been advised only in cases when a student poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to themselves, their classmates, or staff. Restraint of students is the physical efforts of an educator or staff to physically restrict the movement of the torso, legs, arms, or head. The Department of Education and the Department of Justice have defined seclusion as the involuntary confinement of students alone in a room or area in which they cannot physically leave or believe they do not have the option. While these definitions seem rather self-explanatory, the controversial lack of federal oversight has resulted in a fluctuating set of laws and definitions that vary by state. 

Looking at cases across the country quickly reveals how disabled students and students of color are disproportionately subject to these methods of crisis management at especially young ages. In 2023, NPR covered a story on the chilling response of a 2nd grade student with autism who became violent with himself when confined to a seclusion room. Another story out of New Jersey covered a 7-year old student with learning disabilities who got into an argument with a teacher that resulted in 3 adults using rubber mats to forcefully contain him against a wall.

Among the most notable of these cases, is the story of Max Benson - a special needs student who was put into a prone restraint for over an hour and a half which ultimately led to his death. While these cases are found across the nation with varying severity, it is clear they all are sources of trauma for students, parents, and staff involved. 

From the perspective of educators, many see this as the worst part of their job that continues to heavily impact their mental health. Feedback from educators often points to the gaps in restraint training that are unrealistically black and white as to when these tactics would be used. Stephens adds to this miscalculation when he explains, “We often hear that restraint and seclusion is used in the name of safety… but the truth of the matter is, the moment you go hands on with another human being to restrain them or drag them off to a seclusion room, the more likely it is that somebody might get hurt.” He attributes this to the inevitable fight or flight response that a scared and confused child will go into which reasonably can trigger a similar response in educators. In explaining the importance of training, Stephens highlighted how educators are often not prepared on handling dysregulated children prior to their first job in education. It is here where they are trained and expected to carry out restraint and seclusion practices regardless of their own discomforts. 

On the ground level, AASR is taking steps to confront this traumatic dynamic between educators and students by going far upstream for solutions. This is carried out by advocating for and creating training that better utilizes modern understandings of neuroscientific approaches to best meet children’s emotional needs. Stephens outlines this approach when asking, “how do we avoid getting to the situation where restraint and seclusion might even be on the table in the first place?” AASR has built upon the foundational purpose of advocating for federal legislation to create national guidelines that would ban the use of seclusion and significantly minimize the use of restraint. As of now, the lack of uniformity in legislation has created a slippery collection of state-dependent guidelines that make it much more difficult to monitor and record cases where restraint and seclusion are used in schools. 

Currently, schools are supposed to report each of these cases directly to the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, however districts are continuing to underreport and dilute the significance of cases. One example of this was North Carolina’s largest district, Wake County School System, who initially reported zero cases of restraint and seclusion but eventually released data showing 864 reported instances between July and December of 2023. While this misrepresentation is not rare across the nation, even the collection of reports received by the US Department of Education strongly shows how much more likely students with disabilities are affected. In 2022 these students made up 80% of all reported physical restraint cases and 66% of all seclusion cases. The frequency of these instances are so impactful that they are resulting in disabled students receiving less cumulative time under classroom instruction than their peers. 

While there is surely a lot of work to be done, progress will begin with acknowledging the frequency in which students with disabilities feel unsafe in school. In most cases this comes from no malintent of educators, but rather an insufficient training system that has failed to utilize modern mental health academia when addressing student’s needs. Moving forward, it will be organizations, such as AASR, who will play a crucial role in advocating for the protection of these children and staff in schools across the country. This all comes with hope that federal legislatures can drop partisan ties that unnecessarily continue to block laws that could vastly improve the satisfaction and safety of students, parents, and educators from all states. 

For more information on restraint and seclusion in the classroom visit: https://endseclusion.org/