Washington Public schools put troubled students in an "isolation booth" (padded cell).
LONGVIEW, WA- Longview Public Schools administrators call it an "isolation booth" and photos of it are creating a Facebook firestorm.
Some parents say they're worried kids are being abused when they're locked inside it at school.
The isolation booth has been at Mint Valley Elementary School for the past four years. That's because the school hosts a special education program for disabled students with behavioral issues. The booth is used to calm down some of the students when they're at risk of hurting themselves or others.
Just hours after they were posted, photos of the isolation booth were shared on Facebook about 100 times.
The pictures show that from the outside, the booth is located in a storage area and has two peepholes at different heights. Inside, students can sit on the floor of the small padded room, and the ceiling has air holes for ventilation.
The original Facebook poster, Ana Bate, a Longview mother, criticized its use as abusive, arguing children are locked in for crying or tapping on their desks.
Comments echoed by other Facebook posters like Darren Pirtle asked "seriously ... have the police been notified that this is being used??"
Marcy Brinkerhoff-Hogg wrote, "that is terrible and should NEVER be used regardless if the child is out of control or not."
And Jena Raelyn Brown suggested, writing in all capital letters: "if a parent did that at home they would get put in jail!!!"
Bate, whose 10-year-old son is not in the special education program, told KATU News late Tuesday night that her son told her he saw several kids go in the box.
In one instance, a female aide came up behind a boy, picked him up off the floor and dropped him into the isolation box, she said. He landed on the floor and cried the entire time. In another instance a boy, who was placed inside the box for lifting up a desk, became violent while he was inside.
"My question for the school district is how is that therapeutic if not directly opposite from this supposed reinforcement they'd like everybody to believe it to be?" she said. "If they are being paid to lock people up, get extra education and work in mental health or psychiatric units, not with children that have minds that need to be explored, need to be expanded, that need to feel safe."
But the district does not think it is abusive.
"People have their own opinions without having a lot of the information about it. I would not classify it as abusive," said Sandy Catt, director of communications for Longview Public Schools.
Longview, WA- Longview Public Schools administrators call it an "isolation booth" and photos of it are creating a Facebook firestorm.
Some parents say they're worried kids are being abused when they're locked inside it at school.
The isolation booth has been at Mint Valley Elementary School for the past four years. That's because the school hosts a special education program for disabled students with behavioral issues. The booth is used to calm down some of the students when they're at risk of hurting themselves or others.
Just hours after they were posted, photos of the isolation booth were shared on Facebook about 100 times.
The pictures show that from the outside, the booth is located in a storage area and has two peepholes at different heights. Inside, students can sit on the floor of the small padded room, and the ceiling has air holes for ventilation.
The original Facebook poster, Ana Bate, a Longview mother, criticized its use as abusive, arguing children are locked in for crying or tapping on their desks.
Comments echoed by other Facebook posters like Darren Pirtle asked "seriously ... have the police been notified that this is being used??"
Marcy Brinkerhoff-Hogg wrote, "that is terrible and should NEVER be used regardless if the child is out of control or not."
And Jena Raelyn Brown suggested, writing in all capital letters: "if a parent did that at home they would get put in jail!!!"
Bate, whose 10-year-old son is not in the special education program, told KATU News late Tuesday night that her son told her he saw several kids go in the box.
In one instance, a female aide came up behind a boy, picked him up off the floor and dropped him into the isolation box, she said. He landed on the floor and cried the entire time. In another instance a boy, who was placed inside the box for lifting up a desk, became violent while he was inside.
"My question for the school district is how is that therapeutic if not directly opposite from this supposed reinforcement they'd like everybody to believe it to be?" she said. "If they are being paid to lock people up, get extra education and work in mental health or psychiatric units, not with children that have minds that need to be explored, need to be expanded, that need to feel safe."
But the district does not think it is abusive.
"People have their own opinions without having a lot of the information about it. I would not classify it as abusive," said Sandy Catt, director of communications for Longview Public Schools.
http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/Isolation-box-Abuse-or-therapy-for-Longview-school-kids-181195571.html
New Law criminalizes online student speech.
Raleigh, NC - A new state law, the 2012 School Violence Prevention Act, that will be the first in the nation to impose criminal sanctions on public school students who use computers with the "intent to intimidate or torment" school employees will go into effect Dec. 1.
“Nobody else feels like it’s necessary to criminalize student speech online,” said ACLU policy director Sarah Preston. Students 16 and older could go to jail for up to 60 days, she noted – even for posting true statements.
d more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/01/3700359/nc-may-be-first-state-to-charge.html#storylink=cpy“Essentially, what we’re teaching students is it’s not OK to criticize government officials,” Preston said.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/01/3700359/nc-may-be-first-state-to-charge.html#storylink=cpy
The ACLU says the law gives them too much discretion, raising the prospect that students could face charges for criticizing administrators or accurately reporting offensive comments made by a teacher. And the group says the penalty – up to 60 days in jail or a $1,000 fine – is too harsh.
“Maturing students often say or post online things without fully understanding the consequences,” says an ACLU fact sheet on the law. “They should not receive a criminal record and be saddled with a lifetime of damaging consequences simply for posting something on the Internet that a school official finds offensive.”
Kenny Lynch, the CMS detective who specializes in online issues said parents need to be “nosy” and check on how kids are using those devices.
As part of its move toward “bring your own technology,” the CMS board recently approved a policy that requires “digital citizenship” training for students.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/01/3700359/nc-may-be-first-state-to-charge.html#storylink=cpy
The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina opposes the law because it is too broad, threatens to chill students' free speech, sets a bad precedent by telling students it's wrong to criticize government officials, and could saddle students as young as 16 with up to 60 days in jail or a $1,000 fine for a wide range of acts that do not merit a criminal punishment. The law would even criminalize true statements by prohibiting online statements "whether true or false, (emphasis added) intending to immediately provoke, and that is likely to provoke, any third party to stalk or harass a school employee."
The ACLU-NC is urging any student who is charged under this new law to contact its office.
"This law is so vague that it could easily result in a student being arrested simply for posting something on the Internet that a school official finds offensive," said ACLU-NC Policy Director Sarah Preston. "Young people should not be taught that they will be punished for telling the truth, speaking freely, or questioning authority - yet that is exactly what could happen under this law. If it is okay to criminalize students who criticize teachers online, what is to stop the government from making it illegal for any one of us to criticize some other government official, whether the comments are made online or not? We urge any student charged under this misguided law to contact our office immediately."
http://www.aclu.org/free-speech/new-law-criminalizing-online-student-speech-takes-effect-dec-1 http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121202/int/int3.html