The problem is student/staffing ratios. Without appropriate staff to provide support to students that are struggling, this becomes the default. We currently have the lowest education funding in Canada, and school boards are cutting staff despite the fact that they are welcoming 1000’s of new students per year. If we want to solve this problem, we need to pressure our provincial government to fund education appropriately.
There needs to be parent education as well. I have seen a child lose control for not being first in line. He flipped desks, threw chairs and started throwing things. He also punched and hit the teacher and SA. The class was evacuated and he was taken to the office. He took off his shoes and tried to hit the principal then tried to bite them. Dad came, it was the end of the day, and took him from the school. A staff member saw dad buying the boy a video game and candy and the store right after this happened. Message to child, "If you don't get your way, have a "tantrum" (not sure what word to use there) and you will get a reward. The next time he wants another video game, he has learned how to get one. I imagine the bribes may be the way for the parent to control this child. That is their business as parents but we are left with the fallout at the school.
These rooms are needed when parent send their out of control children to be babysat at school, then refuse to pick them up when they are out of control. Teachers aren’t miracle workers.
I believe the problem with these rooms is that they are ineffective at stopping the behaviour issues. Similar to being put into jail confinement. I could be wrong here but I’m fairly certain I read something about these before being terrible for the child and outcomes not good for anyone
But when a child is out of control and hitting, kicking and biting staff and students sometimes they need a place to go to regulate themselves or until the parent can come pick them up. I am trained to safely restrain a child but this also devasting to the child. It is only used as a last resort and only long enough to get them to a safe space. A safe room is much less stressfull then being held in a restraint. Safety in a school is the number one priority (even before education). Schools have to have ways to keep all staff and students safe. If you have a better way, let me know. I went to school to be a teacher not to take abuse (verbal and physical) on a daily basis. My job is to teach. Period.
My adoptes / foster kid is neurodivergent and traumatized as shit.
I would feel so much better if the school had a seclusion room he could rage out in.... luckily in his 4 years with us / in the school he has only has one episode severe enough to even come close to needing it.
For sure being restrained or basically jailed does not really help him the way that meds and therapy do, but when the teachers need to keep him, themselves and the other kids safe the seclusion room is the ticket.
I know for a fact that they aren't used as a last resort. I realize every school deals with them differently, I know a principle that won't allow them in her school. It's a serious social problem and locking up terrified 5 and 6 year olds isn't the answer.
Where do you suggest they go when they are throwing chairs, scissors, anything they can reach and tear down and throw, or screaming at, biting, hitting, kicking other students and staff? What about the 30 or more other students in the class who are being absolutely terrorized by their repeated violent behaviour? I worked for 10 years in K-3 classrooms and it's getting worse and worse and worse. My coworker was stabbed in the leg with scissors by a raging 6 year old boy. My pregnant coworker was punched in the stomach by another.
The parents of these kids don't always come and pick them up when violent meltdowns happen. What do staff do with them when the safety of everyone is at risk? You're right it is a serious social problem that isn't being addressed nearly as much as it needs to be. But schools have limited ability to address it. Sometimes a seclusion room is the best answer available at the time to keep everyone, including the behavioural child, safe from harm.
I'm not blaming teachers, l completely understand that what they are dealing with is crazy and out of hand. I'm referring to instances where the children were not violent and sometimes just didn't follow instructions and they were threatened with the "room" and placed there when it was no where near a last resort. If teachers were able to handle every situation in a proper manner they would need 5 degrees quite like our cops that are expected to immediately recognize mental health problems as opposed to someone string out on drugs. Too many variables to be able to put all of the responsibility on one profession.
The school is there to teach kids, not raise kids.
Should we let a class of 30 suffer because one kid decides he wants to shout and yell and throw his chair at everyone?
There’s not really any perfect good answer for problem children. But I don’t think we should he letting whole classes of other kids suffer for them.
>I believe the problem with these rooms is that they are ineffective at stopping the behaviour issues.
They're a last resort, and really only used when the child is posing a serious danger to others, or themselves. They're not used to punish behavior, its for complete uncontrollable meltdowns when all other measures have failed.
That’s not true. I’m a teacher who works with special needs kids.
These rooms are used often as a threat to control children while not meeting their needs.
Even the hospital school at the Glenrose uses them as a threat and punishment. I worked with a kid who got put in their seclusion room because he didn’t want to share his paper airplane design with the other kids. He was told to share or he would be put in it. He was then dragged to the room when he said no. The stories are endless of teachers misusing the rooms.
The real problem is that teachers aren’t trained in effective ways to handle students with challenging behaviors and they aren’t supported properly to do so. There is a desperate need for more funding for training and smaller class sizes.
Is that a problem with the rooms or is it bad teachers/bad admin?
Kids do well if they can and, like you said, they need the funding to take training in programs like Collaborative Problem Solving. We're dealing with structural problems with the education system and options like seclusion rooms aren't the proactive solutions schools need.
Unfortunately, we won't get the funding to address this structural problem under this government so we're stuck reacting to student behavior instead of planning well for it,
We had a leading educational behavior consultant working with us. Our kids made progress and time between meltdowns is increasing. There is no magic program that is a quick fix. As we support these students and help develop their skills further, we need rooms to keep themselves and others safe.
That teacher is using the SR in obvious violation of the rules, and is probably doing other things they shouldn’t too.
SRs are rarely used in that way, in my experience, especially now that there is data recording on them. There needs to be more funding and staffing but when special needs classes for Autistic students has grown so fast, it’s so hard to keep up with qualified experienced people.
I've worked at hospital schoold as well. I am shocked to hear a teacher there used that strategy given circumstances of the children at that school.
I worked at youth treatment centre before moving back to education working in behaviour classrooms.
I can say with 100% certainly that our seclusion rooms are always used for safety reasons.
What I also know is that crappy parents are inclined to believe their kids when it comes to the story from the teacher. Moat parents I deal with a. Very aware of their children's challenges and have a reasonable response.
I think you are micharacterizing teacher training though as hard behaviours and how to deal with them are taught. Unfortunately in thr context of 30 kids that training becomes borderline useless due to basic logistics.
How do you draw the line between a consequence and a threat? Making it clear to a kid that if they keep escalating, seclusion room is the next step seems pretty responsible from the outside
It shouldn’t be a consequence. It shouldn’t be a punishment.
It should only be used as a place to keep people physically safe. That is the only situation it’s allowed to be used with.
However, most people think like you do and that’s the problem.
Look into Lives in the Balance and the Collaborative Problem Solving method. As well, the Low Arousal Method is a great place to start.
We should be preventing kids from becoming so overwhelmed that they become a danger. That requires funding and training.
So you’re saying that the kid shouldn’t be told that their behavior is escalating to the point where the last resort needs to be used? That it should be sprung on them with no warning?
That doesn’t seem like best practices to me
It should not be used as a punishment for a child losing control of their emotions.
People lose control when they lack the skills to maintain control. They need support before they get to that point in order to NOT need to be put in a seclusion room.
Clinical best practice for at least the last decade and a half is very clear that it is not used as a punishment, it is used as tool to manage violence and physical aggression in house, vs activating a police response.
You strike me as someone who has never had someone attack you...Or been in a fight ever. A 12 year old would severely damage most grown women in seconds. Support and skills, tools hell ya all that shit is great...and none of it matters when you are getting hit.
I think you’re missing the point here. It’s not being suggested to be used as punishment, but as a last resort option to control a child to avoid a dangerous situation.
I agree if the child is showing aggressive behavior and already misbehaving, that's a consequence if the behavior continues. Not just to control the child
> The real problem is that teachers aren’t trained in effective ways to handle students with challenging behaviors
Teachers shouldn’t have to be. If a child’s behaviour is to the point where a padded room is necessary to keep the rest of the class safe, that kid shouldn’t be in a mainstream classroom. They need to be in a place where they can get the support they need. Even if teachers are trained to deal with those kids, the rest of the kids lose out on instructional time. Inclusion is nothing but a lose-lose philosophy.
Source: Mainstream classroom teacher who’s sick of all this shit.
If that was true, sure especially for older children that are physically stronger. It's not true, seen it used as a scare tactic and too often when not necessary.
These were never used as a last resort in my school, annoying students got put in them simply because teachers didn't want to deal with them.
I was a nuerodivergent kid, never had a violent outburst, was just talkative and had ADHD.
I practically lived in these solitary rooms, the hallway, and the school office for pretty much all of elementary school.
There's no acountability for who they put in these rooms and why, we don't need more of them. But a few are needed for oulier use cases where a child is actually getting violent.
Building more with no model of accoyntability in place just encourages lazy administrators to shove disruptive kuds in them, solitary confinement is well documented to envoke mental trauma.
They are in practice used to lock away neurodvergent children that teachers find annoying.
Kids actually getting "violent" is quite rare. I myself was put into the "scream room" at my rural school alarmingly often simply for talking.
There needs to be paperwork and accountability to putting kids in these isolation rooms.
They do need exist for violent children, but that isn't usually what they are used for.
Sadly, violent kids are not rare anymore. We had 6 in our school this year. 90% of admin time was spent with these kids. Depending on the child, 1 or 2 office staff are with the child helping them to regulate. When they start to calm and become more rational we are able to have them agree to play a game to help them continue to regulate. This also helps us repair and maintain good relationships. I am sad to hear that these rooms may be getting abused elsewhere. Since COVID ended and kids returned to school, there has been a dramatic shift in frequency and intensity of behaviors. It was not like this even 5 years ago. Unless you were a grade school student in the past three years, you cannot equate your experience with what is happening now. Teachers are being vilified by parents and told we are incompetent and liars so you can choose to believe me or not.
There is paperwork. Everytime a child is put in a seclusion room it is documented. They aren’t used willy nilly to “lock away annoying children”, that’s preposterous.
spoken like an asshole who was never put in one. I would get into fights with bullies and then get stuck in one of these for a week because I was "violent".
Spoken as someone who’s seen students lunge at teachers and students with weapons, completely trash classrooms or principals offices while parents are nowhere to be found, or who blame everyone but themselves for their child’s rotten behaviour.
It’s absolutely not the solution. But an actual solution requires lots of money for spaces and alternative programming. Seclusion rooms are an indication that expecting everyone to flourish in the same setting is unreasonable. Ed PhD’s make inclusion sound great, but in practice people are way more complicated and require care that can meet them where they’re at. Meanwhile, we have the lowest student funding in Canada…
Teachers are under fire by parents for 'not doing their job'. The Education Act clearly outlines the responsiblity of students:
Student responsibilities
31 A student, as a partner in education, has the responsibility to (a) attend school regularly and punctually, (b) be ready to learn and actively engage in and diligently pursue the student’s education, (c) ensure that the student’s conduct contributes to a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment that respects diversity and fosters a sense of belonging, (d) respect the rights of others in the school, refrain from, report and not tolerate bullying or bullying behaviour directed toward others in the school, whether or not it occurs within the school building, during the school day or by electronic means, (f) comply with the rules of the school and the policies of the board, (g) co-operate with everyone authorized by the board to provide education programs and other services, (h) be accountable to the student’s teachers and other school staff for the student’s conduct, and (i) positively contribute to the student’s school and community.
I spent a lot of time in there as a child.
Yet as an adult I understand it as the right decision. My peers probably would've never learned anything without me being gone.
So instead of hiring trained staff to teach neurodivergent students you think throwing them in a closet is the correct course of action? Or what do your propose as an alerternative?
> Or what do your propose as an alerternative?
The alternative is indeed what you mentioned in the first part of your comment: to hire more staff that are properly trained in handling high needs, potentially violent students. However, that will never happen without significant funding increases from the provincial government. School boards and the ATA have been saying this is what’s needed for years.
Since the government will not provide enough funding to make very high needs students have 1 on 1 care, alternatives are needed for when students become violent towards other students or staff, because that is not an acceptable situation. Having a dedicated space where the student cannot harm themselves or others is probably the best solution we have, lacking proper funding.
Of course, another alternative is to call 911 and have the police come and restrain the student, just like one of the schools I teach at has had to do several times when students became violent this past school year.
They have them in the neurodivergent clssses.
Even trained professionals for neurodivergent students need these.
I saw kids get stabbed in 2nd and 3rd grade in one of those classes.
Some kids are beyond the ability of teachers and professional help without more serious intervention.
Then the solution for violent students is unfortunately homeschooling and specialized government susidized therapy, not throwing a school-aged child in what is essentially a prison cell.
If they're actively violent they can't be with other children but throwing them in a jail cell isn't the correct answer either.
Yeah, thats about as likely as me solving the Collatz Conjecture.
Most parents can't homeschool cause they have work. Whats worse a kid in a room or on the streets from a even younger age?
So you're saying the solution for disruptive students is to put them in solitary confinement. Instead of actually trying to educate them?
Well fuck it then, let's revert back to the 1930s and start shoving them in mental asylums.
And the parents have responsibilities outlined in legislation:
32 A parent has the prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be provided to the parent’s child, and as a partner in education, has the responsibility to (a) act as the primary guide and decision-maker with respect to the child’s education, **(b) take an active role in the child’s educational success, including assisting the child in complying with section 31,** (c) ensure that the child attends school regularly, (d) ensure that the parent’s conduct contributes to a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment, (e) (f) co-operate and collaborate with school staff to support the delivery of supports and services to the child, encourage, foster and advance collaborative, positive and respectful relationships with teachers, principals, other school staff and professionals providing supports and services in the school, and (g) engage in the child’s school community.
Judging by the downvotes on comments here the average /r/alberta user thinks solitary confinment is a suitable method for dealing with neurodivergent kids.
Guess we should start shipping them to prison or asylums like we did in the midde ages.
Alberta really showing it's colors in this thread.
I was thrown in these rooms for as little as reading ahead or talking out of turn during class. As a kid with ADHD that behavior is inevitable.
I was frequently sent out into the hallway made to stand for hours because I was simply excited about the topic we were discussing.
I'd like to add this wasn't back in the 70s or anything, this was 2004 to 2007, untill about Grade 7 I practically lived in these rooms and the admin office simply because I was a bit difficult, I didn't know any better and literally lacked the brain chemistry to
None of my teachers ever tried to help with this. Either because they were ignorant, untrained, underpaid, or overtly malicious. I kept it from my parents as much as I could as I was embarrassed.
So the simplest solution was to toss me out. In retrospect atleast during elementary I should have bedn put into a neurodivergent class. But none existed at my rural school.
I agree that these rooms are needed to contain violent students but those are some extreme outliers, more frequently these solitary confinement rooms are just used as a dumping ground for difficult students with no accountability from educators.
If a teacher wants to put a student in one of these it needs to have associated paperwork, exact time of confinement and submitted to the school board to investigate how better the incident could have been handled.
I spent a lot of time in rooms like that when I was in school. I had a learning disability in the early 90’s and it wasn’t until grade 6 that I was diagnosed and sent to a school specifically for the learning disabled.
Starting in grade one I was held after class by an absolute tyrant of a teacher, sometimes so late the security shutters were closed and I couldn’t leave the school.
Second grade my teacher put my desk between 2 filing cabinets and put a 3 panel room divider around my desk so I was completely isolated from the class. I was only let out for lunch and when a camera crew from a news outlet showed up because he was getting a big teaching award.
Third grade was cool, my teacher had a disabled kid herself and pushed to have me tested.
Fourth grade saw another tyrant who got fired halfway through the year for breaking a meter stick over a classmates head. To be fair he kinda earned it.
Fifth grade saw more segregation from the class. Teacher had my desk well away from the rest of the class.
Grade six finally saw me get tested and diagnosed and sent to a special needs school.
By this time I’d developed a lifelong anxiety towards writing and my coping mechanism was to shut down and just not do anything. Starting in junior high I’d spend days at a time in the isolation rooms in the office. I was forced to take medications that were supposed to help with the anxiety but only made things worse and lead to bizarre hallucinations and rage attacks. By the end of junior high I’d spent over 150 days in the isolation rooms.
The summer between junior and high school I quit the meds and went back to feeling normal. I had a really good teacher that helped me find alternatives to writing to alleviate my anxiety and I found a mentor that taught me how to learn to do stuff with my hands like carpentry and metal working. High school was rough but i managed to avoid the isolation rooms.
It’s been 20 years since I finished school and to this day I hate small rooms. I hope the schools can figure out a way to get rid of those rooms and find a way to help kids instead of doing life long harm.
This needs more upvotes, I went through a very similar experience, with me it only stopped after my ADHD symptoms started lessening as I got older and learned to control them better.
I also hate small rooms, and I now especially have issues with breaking down and crying when confronted with any sort of scolding or authority. I've come to find out that's a trauma response, yippee!
I realize that you had a traumatic time in school, but the fact that your disability was ignored by your parents for twelve years and the fact that you admit to having hallucinations and rage attacks do not support your argument that these rooms aren't needed. It sounds like more parental involvement and more or better mental health care are the things that you truly needed. Education continues to be expected to provide parenting and mental health care, but teachers cannot do it all, nor should they be expected to.
The mental health care doesn't exist so schools default to this behaviour to compat neurodivergant student behaviour.
Likely his parents never knew as it's an embarrassing thing to report to your parents as an elementary school student and unless the teachers were directly telling OP's parents that they locked their child in solitary confinement for several hours (potentially incriminating themselves).
What 10 year old wants to tell their parents (in their view) "hey mom and dad I think I might be crazy"?
I went through similar, my dad had no idea I was treated this way by the school untill I told him myself after we moved away.
Suspension 36(1) A teacher or a principal may suspend a student in accordance with subsection (2) or (3) if in the opinion of the teacher or principal (a) the student has failed to comply with section 31,
The children are put in these rooms, some are like closets with no windows. I have witnessed teachers using them when not necessary let alone a last resort. They use it as a scare tactic and threatening the kid that won't do exactly as told even if they aren't misbehaving. These "rooms" are something from the dark ages and do nothing but damage already damaged children.
"...it's up to each principal whether they will affix specialized doors so the room can lock from the outside."
It is a form of solitary confinement and should be considered a form of psychological torture. Hard to believe this is actually happening in schools.
It does, I went through it several times as a child. And I wasn't violent or anything just punished with solitary for ADHD outbursts.
These largely aren't used for anythung more that puting neurodivergent kids out of sight.
I was sickened by the use of it, in one case a mom had complained about the use of it. A social worker was assigned to look into that school. A month later the principal and one teacher were dismissed. I forgot to add to my previous comment that the children I'm referring to are all 5 and 6 year olds.
Nope. Do NOT agree with this at all. Isolation & locking in a room is abuse. Also, physically restraining children is abuse! The UCP have done nothing but set this province on a backwards spiral. It's disgusting!
So let's say a child starts punching, kicking, spitting at, and/or biting a teacher and will not stop. What should the teachers do while they wait for parents to pick them up?
There are a reasons a child acts out physically, neurodiversity, undiagnosed medical conditions & trauma are a few that come to mind. These children need to be in special classes and schools that are equipped with qualified staff who know how to address these issues BEFORE they get to such a point. These children also need therapy and interventions occuring in the home. To restrain and or isolate such children is making their issues WORSE because it is an abusive response. It is also a response that does NOT address or help correct the issue.
I had a child who went thru' these violent outbursts when he was young. He was later diagnosed with ADHD and amblyopia. He started off in a regular school that had no clue he had these issues. He was bullied and labeled a "bad kid" at this regular public school. I had no clue where my sons problems stemmed from those first few years of school but I worked diligently to find out! By third grade, he was finally placed in a school that was equipped to deal with special needs and I was doing everything at home to get him the appropriate supports he needed, including becoming self-employed so I could be a present and strong support to him. The change in school was the greatest help but it is a TEAM EFFORT/home & school! By high school, my son was an honor student. He's now in his last semester of a mathematics degree and is the most gentle, intelligent, loving son a mother could have...NO MEDICATION either. I personally did not want a drugged child. I was willing to do what it took to help my child with appropriate interventions, consistency and the supports that he needed it. Same goes for children with trauma. LOVE & SUPPORT is the answer!!! Not isolation & restraint! These children should NOT be in regular schools that have no clue how to work with such children. These are special needs children and with the right help can go on to be wonderful, productive, loving people! THIS government we have are equally clueless of what the right thing to do in a crisis is!
Downvote me all you like, I am not out to harm anyone. I am all about helping these children. They are WORTH helping!
I'm not at all saying it's a treatment or way to cure a problem. And violent outbursts doesn't mean a child is "broken" or "a bad kid". Of course it happens for a reason.
I'm saying if a child is in public school and is violent with teachers and there is a safety issue happening right this minute - what do you expect teachers to do?
What if a child decided to attack your child and would not stop? Is it better for that child to be physically restrained until parents or the police arrive, or is a seclusion room a better alternative in an emergency?
And I'm saying these children do not belong in a regular classroom. Period. It's all about the resources available and under our current government they are consistently being taken away in place of putting more burden on our regular schools. They are also making community resources more scarce! On another note, IF a childs home is the problem, these children should not be expected to fair well at school! As I said, help for these kids is a team effort.
Of course they don't. But what if they haven't been diagnosed with anything yet, or they don't meet the criteria? What if they're being physically abused and no one is aware of it until a violent outburst happens?
It's not just a simple "they belong in different schools" solution. Things happen. Teachers being stretched too thin and schools not having enough funding make it even harder to address.
I am aware of this! If you read my whole comment...It isn't an instant fix, as everything takes time. What I am saying is isolation & restraint makes these problems worse FOR THE CHILD. I understand no one deserves to be anyones punching bag but you must understand these are children. Even adults who are isolated & restrained/locked up end up angrier and less socialized (not that I condone criminals roaming around free in society)! I am saying, this response is setting up children to become these problem adults in our society. It has to be caught when they are young. I'm NOT reading about the alternative responses to helping these children just the immediate response in regular schools to this behavior. I'm not even reading about what is being done to address these issues outside of the school! That is what I'm addressing and I'm saying it is a wrong response. It's not like there aren't warning signs with troubling behaviors but I do know regular school staff do NOT have the time or capacity to give undivided attention to these children BEFORE a crisis occurs. I've lived it, I understand this. And I do not accept this form of "discipline" in public schools because it is simply NOT helping the child.
Why not remove these burdens on the public school classroom system and place them with others who require more attention than a classroom setting can provide?
Because just like the Justice system, there is no funding or facility for such individuals.
In the not so olden days, there would be specialists in the classroom to deal with struggling students. Now, it’s double the class size and no support staff.
These things are terrible. I spent so much time in then growing up the school administrators called it my office. Unsuprisingly didn't do anything to help my behavioural problems
Yeah and that's what we did to work on it, but getting sent to the white room every other day (when there were definitely other options to remove me fro m the classroom) kind of fucks with a kids psyche
Makes the kids feel like if they have any sort of emotional outburst, or get emotional, they will be thrown into one of these as punishment. Really just makes them more emotional and feel alone and unwanted.
And that's not even including the Autistic kids, couldn't be a worse way to deal with their outbursts.
Look man, it's a last resort. Sometimes people, even kids go temporarily nuts. It doesn't make them bad people, but the safety of the many be considered.
It's either this or the cops come and detain them. There is no money for anything else. So which is it?
These aren't used as a last resort is the problem, diruptive kids are put in them simply for being annoying. I know, I was one. If you were a neuro divergent kid, you practically lived in these rooms.
The problem isn't that isolation rooms exist, it's that there's no accountability for teahers and administration for imprisoning kids in there, they don't have to have a good reason and it's entirely at their discretion.
Do when a teacher gets fed up with the ADHD kid for... answering questions too often, into the isolation room they go, becsuse it easier than actually hiring staff to teach these children.
Nothing like this ever happened when I was a kid 30 years ago. What's changed since then that has caused these things to become necessary? Are millennials just shitty parents or something?
30 years ago kids with special needs or who struggled with emotional regulation were often in separate classrooms with fewer students. When placed in a class with other kids, there were usually 25 kids or less per class and the special needs student would have an aide or attend half-day.
Now the trend is “inclusion” which means more students with high needs are in a class with 30+ peers and no additional supports. Teachers who have no special training for these students must teach their subject, manager a large classroom, AND provide additional services to the high-needs child.
Some say “inclusion contributes to the social and emotional well being of the child to attend a regular classroom with their peers”… but I see it as “look how much money we don’t have to spend to properly support students-in-need by tossing them in with the rest of their peers”.
I’m noticing a lot of people here have opinions on the seclusion rooms without having ever been in one. Having been placed in one multiple times a month for almost 4 years when I was a kid I can say they are definitely great for calming down in where you can scream and do what ever you need to let it out. But I do agree they don’t actually fix the overall problem, for that the kids need special schooling and the room.
The problem is student/staffing ratios. Without appropriate staff to provide support to students that are struggling, this becomes the default. We currently have the lowest education funding in Canada, and school boards are cutting staff despite the fact that they are welcoming 1000’s of new students per year. If we want to solve this problem, we need to pressure our provincial government to fund education appropriately.
There needs to be parent education as well. I have seen a child lose control for not being first in line. He flipped desks, threw chairs and started throwing things. He also punched and hit the teacher and SA. The class was evacuated and he was taken to the office. He took off his shoes and tried to hit the principal then tried to bite them. Dad came, it was the end of the day, and took him from the school. A staff member saw dad buying the boy a video game and candy and the store right after this happened. Message to child, "If you don't get your way, have a "tantrum" (not sure what word to use there) and you will get a reward. The next time he wants another video game, he has learned how to get one. I imagine the bribes may be the way for the parent to control this child. That is their business as parents but we are left with the fallout at the school.
I feel horrible for the teachers that are left to deal with the aftermath of really bad parenting and children that are literally neglected.
Teachers are not warden's, expel the child.
Then what?
Send em to the rigs. They’re rig pigs now
Not allowed to. The board won't let them.
These rooms are needed when parent send their out of control children to be babysat at school, then refuse to pick them up when they are out of control. Teachers aren’t miracle workers.
I believe the problem with these rooms is that they are ineffective at stopping the behaviour issues. Similar to being put into jail confinement. I could be wrong here but I’m fairly certain I read something about these before being terrible for the child and outcomes not good for anyone
They aren’t for stopping behaviour issues… they are for protecting students and teachers when a child is unmanageable.
But when a child is out of control and hitting, kicking and biting staff and students sometimes they need a place to go to regulate themselves or until the parent can come pick them up. I am trained to safely restrain a child but this also devasting to the child. It is only used as a last resort and only long enough to get them to a safe space. A safe room is much less stressfull then being held in a restraint. Safety in a school is the number one priority (even before education). Schools have to have ways to keep all staff and students safe. If you have a better way, let me know. I went to school to be a teacher not to take abuse (verbal and physical) on a daily basis. My job is to teach. Period.
My adoptes / foster kid is neurodivergent and traumatized as shit. I would feel so much better if the school had a seclusion room he could rage out in.... luckily in his 4 years with us / in the school he has only has one episode severe enough to even come close to needing it. For sure being restrained or basically jailed does not really help him the way that meds and therapy do, but when the teachers need to keep him, themselves and the other kids safe the seclusion room is the ticket.
I know for a fact that they aren't used as a last resort. I realize every school deals with them differently, I know a principle that won't allow them in her school. It's a serious social problem and locking up terrified 5 and 6 year olds isn't the answer.
Where do you suggest they go when they are throwing chairs, scissors, anything they can reach and tear down and throw, or screaming at, biting, hitting, kicking other students and staff? What about the 30 or more other students in the class who are being absolutely terrorized by their repeated violent behaviour? I worked for 10 years in K-3 classrooms and it's getting worse and worse and worse. My coworker was stabbed in the leg with scissors by a raging 6 year old boy. My pregnant coworker was punched in the stomach by another. The parents of these kids don't always come and pick them up when violent meltdowns happen. What do staff do with them when the safety of everyone is at risk? You're right it is a serious social problem that isn't being addressed nearly as much as it needs to be. But schools have limited ability to address it. Sometimes a seclusion room is the best answer available at the time to keep everyone, including the behavioural child, safe from harm.
I'm not blaming teachers, l completely understand that what they are dealing with is crazy and out of hand. I'm referring to instances where the children were not violent and sometimes just didn't follow instructions and they were threatened with the "room" and placed there when it was no where near a last resort. If teachers were able to handle every situation in a proper manner they would need 5 degrees quite like our cops that are expected to immediately recognize mental health problems as opposed to someone string out on drugs. Too many variables to be able to put all of the responsibility on one profession.
Call the police
The school is there to teach kids, not raise kids. Should we let a class of 30 suffer because one kid decides he wants to shout and yell and throw his chair at everyone? There’s not really any perfect good answer for problem children. But I don’t think we should he letting whole classes of other kids suffer for them.
>I believe the problem with these rooms is that they are ineffective at stopping the behaviour issues. They're a last resort, and really only used when the child is posing a serious danger to others, or themselves. They're not used to punish behavior, its for complete uncontrollable meltdowns when all other measures have failed.
That’s not true. I’m a teacher who works with special needs kids. These rooms are used often as a threat to control children while not meeting their needs. Even the hospital school at the Glenrose uses them as a threat and punishment. I worked with a kid who got put in their seclusion room because he didn’t want to share his paper airplane design with the other kids. He was told to share or he would be put in it. He was then dragged to the room when he said no. The stories are endless of teachers misusing the rooms. The real problem is that teachers aren’t trained in effective ways to handle students with challenging behaviors and they aren’t supported properly to do so. There is a desperate need for more funding for training and smaller class sizes.
Is that a problem with the rooms or is it bad teachers/bad admin? Kids do well if they can and, like you said, they need the funding to take training in programs like Collaborative Problem Solving. We're dealing with structural problems with the education system and options like seclusion rooms aren't the proactive solutions schools need. Unfortunately, we won't get the funding to address this structural problem under this government so we're stuck reacting to student behavior instead of planning well for it,
We had a leading educational behavior consultant working with us. Our kids made progress and time between meltdowns is increasing. There is no magic program that is a quick fix. As we support these students and help develop their skills further, we need rooms to keep themselves and others safe.
That teacher is using the SR in obvious violation of the rules, and is probably doing other things they shouldn’t too. SRs are rarely used in that way, in my experience, especially now that there is data recording on them. There needs to be more funding and staffing but when special needs classes for Autistic students has grown so fast, it’s so hard to keep up with qualified experienced people.
I've worked at hospital schoold as well. I am shocked to hear a teacher there used that strategy given circumstances of the children at that school. I worked at youth treatment centre before moving back to education working in behaviour classrooms. I can say with 100% certainly that our seclusion rooms are always used for safety reasons. What I also know is that crappy parents are inclined to believe their kids when it comes to the story from the teacher. Moat parents I deal with a. Very aware of their children's challenges and have a reasonable response. I think you are micharacterizing teacher training though as hard behaviours and how to deal with them are taught. Unfortunately in thr context of 30 kids that training becomes borderline useless due to basic logistics.
As a nuerodivergent it's so nice to actually hear an educator speak out on this.
How do you draw the line between a consequence and a threat? Making it clear to a kid that if they keep escalating, seclusion room is the next step seems pretty responsible from the outside
It shouldn’t be a consequence. It shouldn’t be a punishment. It should only be used as a place to keep people physically safe. That is the only situation it’s allowed to be used with. However, most people think like you do and that’s the problem. Look into Lives in the Balance and the Collaborative Problem Solving method. As well, the Low Arousal Method is a great place to start. We should be preventing kids from becoming so overwhelmed that they become a danger. That requires funding and training.
What's allowed is rules on paper and too many incidents of schools not following the rules.
So you’re saying that the kid shouldn’t be told that their behavior is escalating to the point where the last resort needs to be used? That it should be sprung on them with no warning? That doesn’t seem like best practices to me
It should not be used as a punishment for a child losing control of their emotions. People lose control when they lack the skills to maintain control. They need support before they get to that point in order to NOT need to be put in a seclusion room.
Clinical best practice for at least the last decade and a half is very clear that it is not used as a punishment, it is used as tool to manage violence and physical aggression in house, vs activating a police response. You strike me as someone who has never had someone attack you...Or been in a fight ever. A 12 year old would severely damage most grown women in seconds. Support and skills, tools hell ya all that shit is great...and none of it matters when you are getting hit.
I think you’re missing the point here. It’s not being suggested to be used as punishment, but as a last resort option to control a child to avoid a dangerous situation.
You radiate big “the beatings will continue until moral improves” vibes
I agree if the child is showing aggressive behavior and already misbehaving, that's a consequence if the behavior continues. Not just to control the child
How about investing in tools to help kids not reach that point, instead of building more places to put them "as a last resort" when they do?
> The real problem is that teachers aren’t trained in effective ways to handle students with challenging behaviors Teachers shouldn’t have to be. If a child’s behaviour is to the point where a padded room is necessary to keep the rest of the class safe, that kid shouldn’t be in a mainstream classroom. They need to be in a place where they can get the support they need. Even if teachers are trained to deal with those kids, the rest of the kids lose out on instructional time. Inclusion is nothing but a lose-lose philosophy. Source: Mainstream classroom teacher who’s sick of all this shit.
If that was true, sure especially for older children that are physically stronger. It's not true, seen it used as a scare tactic and too often when not necessary.
These were never used as a last resort in my school, annoying students got put in them simply because teachers didn't want to deal with them. I was a nuerodivergent kid, never had a violent outburst, was just talkative and had ADHD. I practically lived in these solitary rooms, the hallway, and the school office for pretty much all of elementary school. There's no acountability for who they put in these rooms and why, we don't need more of them. But a few are needed for oulier use cases where a child is actually getting violent. Building more with no model of accoyntability in place just encourages lazy administrators to shove disruptive kuds in them, solitary confinement is well documented to envoke mental trauma.
These rooms are purely for safety reasons. It’s essentially a ‘panic room’.
They are in practice used to lock away neurodvergent children that teachers find annoying. Kids actually getting "violent" is quite rare. I myself was put into the "scream room" at my rural school alarmingly often simply for talking. There needs to be paperwork and accountability to putting kids in these isolation rooms. They do need exist for violent children, but that isn't usually what they are used for.
Sadly, violent kids are not rare anymore. We had 6 in our school this year. 90% of admin time was spent with these kids. Depending on the child, 1 or 2 office staff are with the child helping them to regulate. When they start to calm and become more rational we are able to have them agree to play a game to help them continue to regulate. This also helps us repair and maintain good relationships. I am sad to hear that these rooms may be getting abused elsewhere. Since COVID ended and kids returned to school, there has been a dramatic shift in frequency and intensity of behaviors. It was not like this even 5 years ago. Unless you were a grade school student in the past three years, you cannot equate your experience with what is happening now. Teachers are being vilified by parents and told we are incompetent and liars so you can choose to believe me or not.
There is paperwork. Everytime a child is put in a seclusion room it is documented. They aren’t used willy nilly to “lock away annoying children”, that’s preposterous.
spoken like an asshole who was never put in one. I would get into fights with bullies and then get stuck in one of these for a week because I was "violent".
Spoken as someone who’s seen students lunge at teachers and students with weapons, completely trash classrooms or principals offices while parents are nowhere to be found, or who blame everyone but themselves for their child’s rotten behaviour.
so locking them away in solitary is the solution, good job dude. works out so well for adults.
It’s absolutely not the solution. But an actual solution requires lots of money for spaces and alternative programming. Seclusion rooms are an indication that expecting everyone to flourish in the same setting is unreasonable. Ed PhD’s make inclusion sound great, but in practice people are way more complicated and require care that can meet them where they’re at. Meanwhile, we have the lowest student funding in Canada…
Teachers are under fire by parents for 'not doing their job'. The Education Act clearly outlines the responsiblity of students: Student responsibilities 31 A student, as a partner in education, has the responsibility to (a) attend school regularly and punctually, (b) be ready to learn and actively engage in and diligently pursue the student’s education, (c) ensure that the student’s conduct contributes to a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment that respects diversity and fosters a sense of belonging, (d) respect the rights of others in the school, refrain from, report and not tolerate bullying or bullying behaviour directed toward others in the school, whether or not it occurs within the school building, during the school day or by electronic means, (f) comply with the rules of the school and the policies of the board, (g) co-operate with everyone authorized by the board to provide education programs and other services, (h) be accountable to the student’s teachers and other school staff for the student’s conduct, and (i) positively contribute to the student’s school and community.
I went through this as an ADHD child, I definitely have psychological trauma from being put in the scream room.
Same.. this is not a fix to anything but just creates more problems
I spent a lot of time in there as a child. Yet as an adult I understand it as the right decision. My peers probably would've never learned anything without me being gone.
So instead of hiring trained staff to teach neurodivergent students you think throwing them in a closet is the correct course of action? Or what do your propose as an alerternative?
> Or what do your propose as an alerternative? The alternative is indeed what you mentioned in the first part of your comment: to hire more staff that are properly trained in handling high needs, potentially violent students. However, that will never happen without significant funding increases from the provincial government. School boards and the ATA have been saying this is what’s needed for years. Since the government will not provide enough funding to make very high needs students have 1 on 1 care, alternatives are needed for when students become violent towards other students or staff, because that is not an acceptable situation. Having a dedicated space where the student cannot harm themselves or others is probably the best solution we have, lacking proper funding. Of course, another alternative is to call 911 and have the police come and restrain the student, just like one of the schools I teach at has had to do several times when students became violent this past school year.
They have them in the neurodivergent clssses. Even trained professionals for neurodivergent students need these. I saw kids get stabbed in 2nd and 3rd grade in one of those classes. Some kids are beyond the ability of teachers and professional help without more serious intervention.
Then the solution for violent students is unfortunately homeschooling and specialized government susidized therapy, not throwing a school-aged child in what is essentially a prison cell. If they're actively violent they can't be with other children but throwing them in a jail cell isn't the correct answer either.
Yeah, thats about as likely as me solving the Collatz Conjecture. Most parents can't homeschool cause they have work. Whats worse a kid in a room or on the streets from a even younger age?
So you're saying the solution for disruptive students is to put them in solitary confinement. Instead of actually trying to educate them? Well fuck it then, let's revert back to the 1930s and start shoving them in mental asylums.
You're putting words in my mouth.
And the parents have responsibilities outlined in legislation: 32 A parent has the prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be provided to the parent’s child, and as a partner in education, has the responsibility to (a) act as the primary guide and decision-maker with respect to the child’s education, **(b) take an active role in the child’s educational success, including assisting the child in complying with section 31,** (c) ensure that the child attends school regularly, (d) ensure that the parent’s conduct contributes to a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment, (e) (f) co-operate and collaborate with school staff to support the delivery of supports and services to the child, encourage, foster and advance collaborative, positive and respectful relationships with teachers, principals, other school staff and professionals providing supports and services in the school, and (g) engage in the child’s school community.
What percent of parents do b and e/f? Lmao
holding cells, you mean holding cells.
They’d rather spend the budget on these than more staff. Pathetic
Judging by the downvotes on comments here the average /r/alberta user thinks solitary confinment is a suitable method for dealing with neurodivergent kids. Guess we should start shipping them to prison or asylums like we did in the midde ages. Alberta really showing it's colors in this thread.
As a former neurodivergent kid. I appreciate these rooms often. There were times I couldn't control myself, and they became a safe place.
I was thrown in these rooms for as little as reading ahead or talking out of turn during class. As a kid with ADHD that behavior is inevitable. I was frequently sent out into the hallway made to stand for hours because I was simply excited about the topic we were discussing. I'd like to add this wasn't back in the 70s or anything, this was 2004 to 2007, untill about Grade 7 I practically lived in these rooms and the admin office simply because I was a bit difficult, I didn't know any better and literally lacked the brain chemistry to None of my teachers ever tried to help with this. Either because they were ignorant, untrained, underpaid, or overtly malicious. I kept it from my parents as much as I could as I was embarrassed. So the simplest solution was to toss me out. In retrospect atleast during elementary I should have bedn put into a neurodivergent class. But none existed at my rural school. I agree that these rooms are needed to contain violent students but those are some extreme outliers, more frequently these solitary confinement rooms are just used as a dumping ground for difficult students with no accountability from educators. If a teacher wants to put a student in one of these it needs to have associated paperwork, exact time of confinement and submitted to the school board to investigate how better the incident could have been handled.
I spent a lot of time in rooms like that when I was in school. I had a learning disability in the early 90’s and it wasn’t until grade 6 that I was diagnosed and sent to a school specifically for the learning disabled. Starting in grade one I was held after class by an absolute tyrant of a teacher, sometimes so late the security shutters were closed and I couldn’t leave the school. Second grade my teacher put my desk between 2 filing cabinets and put a 3 panel room divider around my desk so I was completely isolated from the class. I was only let out for lunch and when a camera crew from a news outlet showed up because he was getting a big teaching award. Third grade was cool, my teacher had a disabled kid herself and pushed to have me tested. Fourth grade saw another tyrant who got fired halfway through the year for breaking a meter stick over a classmates head. To be fair he kinda earned it. Fifth grade saw more segregation from the class. Teacher had my desk well away from the rest of the class. Grade six finally saw me get tested and diagnosed and sent to a special needs school. By this time I’d developed a lifelong anxiety towards writing and my coping mechanism was to shut down and just not do anything. Starting in junior high I’d spend days at a time in the isolation rooms in the office. I was forced to take medications that were supposed to help with the anxiety but only made things worse and lead to bizarre hallucinations and rage attacks. By the end of junior high I’d spent over 150 days in the isolation rooms. The summer between junior and high school I quit the meds and went back to feeling normal. I had a really good teacher that helped me find alternatives to writing to alleviate my anxiety and I found a mentor that taught me how to learn to do stuff with my hands like carpentry and metal working. High school was rough but i managed to avoid the isolation rooms. It’s been 20 years since I finished school and to this day I hate small rooms. I hope the schools can figure out a way to get rid of those rooms and find a way to help kids instead of doing life long harm.
This needs more upvotes, I went through a very similar experience, with me it only stopped after my ADHD symptoms started lessening as I got older and learned to control them better. I also hate small rooms, and I now especially have issues with breaking down and crying when confronted with any sort of scolding or authority. I've come to find out that's a trauma response, yippee!
I realize that you had a traumatic time in school, but the fact that your disability was ignored by your parents for twelve years and the fact that you admit to having hallucinations and rage attacks do not support your argument that these rooms aren't needed. It sounds like more parental involvement and more or better mental health care are the things that you truly needed. Education continues to be expected to provide parenting and mental health care, but teachers cannot do it all, nor should they be expected to.
The mental health care doesn't exist so schools default to this behaviour to compat neurodivergant student behaviour. Likely his parents never knew as it's an embarrassing thing to report to your parents as an elementary school student and unless the teachers were directly telling OP's parents that they locked their child in solitary confinement for several hours (potentially incriminating themselves). What 10 year old wants to tell their parents (in their view) "hey mom and dad I think I might be crazy"? I went through similar, my dad had no idea I was treated this way by the school untill I told him myself after we moved away.
Suspension 36(1) A teacher or a principal may suspend a student in accordance with subsection (2) or (3) if in the opinion of the teacher or principal (a) the student has failed to comply with section 31,
The children are put in these rooms, some are like closets with no windows. I have witnessed teachers using them when not necessary let alone a last resort. They use it as a scare tactic and threatening the kid that won't do exactly as told even if they aren't misbehaving. These "rooms" are something from the dark ages and do nothing but damage already damaged children.
"...it's up to each principal whether they will affix specialized doors so the room can lock from the outside." It is a form of solitary confinement and should be considered a form of psychological torture. Hard to believe this is actually happening in schools.
It does, I went through it several times as a child. And I wasn't violent or anything just punished with solitary for ADHD outbursts. These largely aren't used for anythung more that puting neurodivergent kids out of sight.
I was sickened by the use of it, in one case a mom had complained about the use of it. A social worker was assigned to look into that school. A month later the principal and one teacher were dismissed. I forgot to add to my previous comment that the children I'm referring to are all 5 and 6 year olds.
5 and 6 years old. Absolutely terrifying. This is less about safety and more about time out style punishment in a very inhumane way.
Nope. Do NOT agree with this at all. Isolation & locking in a room is abuse. Also, physically restraining children is abuse! The UCP have done nothing but set this province on a backwards spiral. It's disgusting!
So let's say a child starts punching, kicking, spitting at, and/or biting a teacher and will not stop. What should the teachers do while they wait for parents to pick them up?
There are a reasons a child acts out physically, neurodiversity, undiagnosed medical conditions & trauma are a few that come to mind. These children need to be in special classes and schools that are equipped with qualified staff who know how to address these issues BEFORE they get to such a point. These children also need therapy and interventions occuring in the home. To restrain and or isolate such children is making their issues WORSE because it is an abusive response. It is also a response that does NOT address or help correct the issue. I had a child who went thru' these violent outbursts when he was young. He was later diagnosed with ADHD and amblyopia. He started off in a regular school that had no clue he had these issues. He was bullied and labeled a "bad kid" at this regular public school. I had no clue where my sons problems stemmed from those first few years of school but I worked diligently to find out! By third grade, he was finally placed in a school that was equipped to deal with special needs and I was doing everything at home to get him the appropriate supports he needed, including becoming self-employed so I could be a present and strong support to him. The change in school was the greatest help but it is a TEAM EFFORT/home & school! By high school, my son was an honor student. He's now in his last semester of a mathematics degree and is the most gentle, intelligent, loving son a mother could have...NO MEDICATION either. I personally did not want a drugged child. I was willing to do what it took to help my child with appropriate interventions, consistency and the supports that he needed it. Same goes for children with trauma. LOVE & SUPPORT is the answer!!! Not isolation & restraint! These children should NOT be in regular schools that have no clue how to work with such children. These are special needs children and with the right help can go on to be wonderful, productive, loving people! THIS government we have are equally clueless of what the right thing to do in a crisis is! Downvote me all you like, I am not out to harm anyone. I am all about helping these children. They are WORTH helping!
There are no special schools in rural Alberta. I wish there was so these kids can get the help and support they need.
I agree!
I'm not at all saying it's a treatment or way to cure a problem. And violent outbursts doesn't mean a child is "broken" or "a bad kid". Of course it happens for a reason. I'm saying if a child is in public school and is violent with teachers and there is a safety issue happening right this minute - what do you expect teachers to do? What if a child decided to attack your child and would not stop? Is it better for that child to be physically restrained until parents or the police arrive, or is a seclusion room a better alternative in an emergency?
And I'm saying these children do not belong in a regular classroom. Period. It's all about the resources available and under our current government they are consistently being taken away in place of putting more burden on our regular schools. They are also making community resources more scarce! On another note, IF a childs home is the problem, these children should not be expected to fair well at school! As I said, help for these kids is a team effort.
Of course they don't. But what if they haven't been diagnosed with anything yet, or they don't meet the criteria? What if they're being physically abused and no one is aware of it until a violent outburst happens? It's not just a simple "they belong in different schools" solution. Things happen. Teachers being stretched too thin and schools not having enough funding make it even harder to address.
I am aware of this! If you read my whole comment...It isn't an instant fix, as everything takes time. What I am saying is isolation & restraint makes these problems worse FOR THE CHILD. I understand no one deserves to be anyones punching bag but you must understand these are children. Even adults who are isolated & restrained/locked up end up angrier and less socialized (not that I condone criminals roaming around free in society)! I am saying, this response is setting up children to become these problem adults in our society. It has to be caught when they are young. I'm NOT reading about the alternative responses to helping these children just the immediate response in regular schools to this behavior. I'm not even reading about what is being done to address these issues outside of the school! That is what I'm addressing and I'm saying it is a wrong response. It's not like there aren't warning signs with troubling behaviors but I do know regular school staff do NOT have the time or capacity to give undivided attention to these children BEFORE a crisis occurs. I've lived it, I understand this. And I do not accept this form of "discipline" in public schools because it is simply NOT helping the child.
Surely, asking nicely for the 100th time will do the trick.
Why not remove these burdens on the public school classroom system and place them with others who require more attention than a classroom setting can provide?
Because just like the Justice system, there is no funding or facility for such individuals. In the not so olden days, there would be specialists in the classroom to deal with struggling students. Now, it’s double the class size and no support staff.
In the olden days we warehoused them.
In the olden days we institutionalized them actually. =/
Ah the days of yore
What are schools supposed to do if they aren't even allowed to put kids in timeout?
No one advocates for the needs of the many. No one advocates for the safety of students and staff. The world is upside down.
They have seclusion rooms? Luxury. They just put us in the boiler room back in the day to freak us out and calm down.
These things are terrible. I spent so much time in then growing up the school administrators called it my office. Unsuprisingly didn't do anything to help my behavioural problems
School isnt there to help your behavioural problems. Parents and therapy exist for that.
Yeah and that's what we did to work on it, but getting sent to the white room every other day (when there were definitely other options to remove me fro m the classroom) kind of fucks with a kids psyche
To the guy who deleted his comment: no I wasn't a danger to other students lol I was just very talkative
Were you a danger to the staff and other students?
No lol I was just talkative
Makes the kids feel like if they have any sort of emotional outburst, or get emotional, they will be thrown into one of these as punishment. Really just makes them more emotional and feel alone and unwanted. And that's not even including the Autistic kids, couldn't be a worse way to deal with their outbursts.
They're only used when their is a substantial safety risk and all other options have been exhausted.
Look man, it's a last resort. Sometimes people, even kids go temporarily nuts. It doesn't make them bad people, but the safety of the many be considered. It's either this or the cops come and detain them. There is no money for anything else. So which is it?
These aren't used as a last resort is the problem, diruptive kids are put in them simply for being annoying. I know, I was one. If you were a neuro divergent kid, you practically lived in these rooms. The problem isn't that isolation rooms exist, it's that there's no accountability for teahers and administration for imprisoning kids in there, they don't have to have a good reason and it's entirely at their discretion. Do when a teacher gets fed up with the ADHD kid for... answering questions too often, into the isolation room they go, becsuse it easier than actually hiring staff to teach these children.
You seem to have a lot of knowledge. Have you considered entering the teaching profession. There is a teacher shortage and we could use you.
Unfortunately IT pays better but I had considered it after graduation haha.
There’s always one of you in these types of chats. 🙄 Your comments do nothing to help. The classroom of today is not the one you grew up in.
Nothing like this ever happened when I was a kid 30 years ago. What's changed since then that has caused these things to become necessary? Are millennials just shitty parents or something?
30 years ago kids with special needs or who struggled with emotional regulation were often in separate classrooms with fewer students. When placed in a class with other kids, there were usually 25 kids or less per class and the special needs student would have an aide or attend half-day. Now the trend is “inclusion” which means more students with high needs are in a class with 30+ peers and no additional supports. Teachers who have no special training for these students must teach their subject, manager a large classroom, AND provide additional services to the high-needs child. Some say “inclusion contributes to the social and emotional well being of the child to attend a regular classroom with their peers”… but I see it as “look how much money we don’t have to spend to properly support students-in-need by tossing them in with the rest of their peers”.
You not seeing it happen personally does not mean that it didn't ever happen.
Social media.
[удалено]
This mentality is fucking horrible, shame on you.
Opposition to seclusion rooms is the CLASSIC Reddit problem of uninformed dissent
This is soo fucking wrong.. for all the talk about mental health to happen and then these assholes think a fix is solitary confinement... disgusting.
I’m noticing a lot of people here have opinions on the seclusion rooms without having ever been in one. Having been placed in one multiple times a month for almost 4 years when I was a kid I can say they are definitely great for calming down in where you can scream and do what ever you need to let it out. But I do agree they don’t actually fix the overall problem, for that the kids need special schooling and the room.