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Statement on Restraint & Seclusion in Michigan's Schools

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Bridges4Kids' CEO Statement on Restraint & Seclusion in Michigan's Schools

October 20, 2006
 

Reasonable minds can differ on the morality and effectiveness of capital punishment, but in Michigan we choose not to sanction it, believing instead that the harm to our greater sense of morality and our belief in who we are as a people outweighs the good that may come from permanently removing those who trouble us from our midst. Now we face yet another battle between morality and expediency as we consider the practice of allowing schools to lock mentally ill and emotionally troubled young children away from human contact in “boxes” and small rooms without windows as part of a practice of “seclusion” in our special education system. Such action surely removes a problem from our midst, but we must ask at what cost to our sense of morality and of who we are as a people.

The question now before us is whether Michigan should outlaw the practice of allowing frightened, troubled and confused children – children who have already been restrained from doing harm to themselves or others – to be forcibly locked away from human contact We must ask what we gain beyond the expediency of removing a problem from our midst. Isolating a person from human contact is an effective technique of torture because of the mental anguish it produces. What may seem to be only 10, 20 or 30 minutes to us may be an eternity to a troubled mind. What further damage do we do by such practice? What message do we sow in such a child about his worth - and ours - and what reward will we later reap?

Locking up and isolating the mentally ill is still practiced in some states, but in Michigan we gave it up years ago recognizing that while mentally ill people may sometimes be difficult to deal with, and while locking them away is neat, clean and expedient, it is also a cruel and barbaric way to treat the vulnerable among us. The moral measure of our society is how we treat the least among us. Isolating troubled children may be expedient and effective, but the practice dehumanizes them - and us.

 

Note from Jackie Igafo-Te'o: We recently learned that form letters are being circulated by major entities in the State requesting that the State Board of Education rule in favor of keeping seclusion as an option in classrooms in Michigan.  These letters are being sent en masse to the members of the State Board of Education.  We feel that the use of seclusion and restraint is an unacceptable practice which can lead to emotional damage, along with the sense that these unusual punishments are "acceptable" in schools when used upon our most vulnerable children. We sometimes find staff sometimes pushing the envelope and using tactics which can harm and even kill.  We currently have a case in Ingham District Court involving this very issue.  Since it is a matter of public record, the documents filed on our behalf may be accessed online in PDF format; most personal identifiers have been removed out of respect for those involved.
 

Please direct questions and comments to:
Deborah Canja, CEO
Bridges4Kids
3520 Okemos Road, Ste. 6 -150
Okemos, MI 48864
(517) 381-0528
deb@bridges4kids.org
https://www.bridges4kids.org

 

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