School district officials in Detroit are investigating claims that a principal ordered a special education student handcuffed to a door following a fight. The 11-year-old student, Antonio Hunt, allegedly remained handcuffed to the door from 11:45 AM until 3:30 PM, at which time he was finally permitted to go home.
Detroit School Board member Marie Thornton says staff at Sampson-Webber Elementary told her the elementary school's principal ordered a
Detroit Public Schools police officer to handcuff the boy to a door in
the principal's office. The boy's mother, Charmaine Hunt, also reported that her son was handcuffed for four hours without a break.
“It’s called child abuse, and the board has an obligation to
investigate and to report it to the appropriate authorities because it
is a state law,” said Thornton.
Officials have confirmed that the Sampson-Webber principal's contract was not renewed for the coming school year. That decision was made prior to the handcuffing incident.
This incident is the latest in a series of alarming news stories regarding restraint of students with disabilities in schools. In Tucson, AZ, teachers came forward to report that a special education student was repeatedly tied to a fence by his backpack after being dropped off at school, and was left tied to the fence and unattended until an "escort" arrived to take him into the school building. In a separate incident, a Georgia schoolteacher and her classroom aide were recently charged with first-degree cruelty to children and with false imprisonment after they allegedly duct-taped a student with Autism to his chair and forced a blind girl to stay under a teacher's desk.
The United States House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the abuse of restraint and seclusion in schools on May 19, 2009, during which Gregory D. Kutz of the Government Accountability office testified that, "Many of the 18 children from our studies, including four preschoolers, were clearly abused and tortured."
What can be done about the disturbing prevalence of inappropriate restraint in schools? Criminal charges resulting from these cases seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. In the aforementioned Arizona case of a student allegedly tied to a fence by his backpack, the staff members responsible received only "letters of direction," and were not disciplined or charged with a crime. Do you think that the House hearing on restraint and seclusion will produce productive legislation regarding this pervasive problem? How can the disability community keep the pressure on and force a change in the way schools restrain students with special needs? Is it ever okay to restrain or seclude a student? Leave your thoughts and ideas as comments below!
Photo by Alaleia
Filed under: Michigan, abuse, special education, disabilism, restraint, seclusion, disability abuse, schools, elementary education, detroit, antonio hunt
