Rich La Belle Executive Director Family Network on Disabilities
Enough is enough. Stop hitting our kids. Now. I can’t believe this is still an issue, but it is. Why am I so upset? How about this quote from Anna M., a Florida mother, taken from the report “Impairing Education: Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in U.S. Public Schools,” issued last week by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch:
“I’m in the front office … They bring [my son] into the room. His nose is beet red. He lifts up his shirt sleeve. I get a glimpse of scratches all up his arm. I got overwhelmed, I couldn’t focus … I wanted to get my son to the doctor, I get him home and I take off his clothes. He was marked, top of his arms, under his arms, down his torso. He had a busted lip, which I hadn’t notice at first. He said, ‘they made me wash the blood off before I saw you.’”
Anna’s son, who has autism, was seven years old when this abuse occurred.
Outraged, yet? Try this cry from the heart of another Florida mother, Rose C., whose son also has autism. Rose was unable to protect her child from being thrown to the floor face first, put in a chokehold, and suffering bruises and cuts:
”I trusted the school, I trusted them to do the right thing … All this abuse happened on my watch. It never should have happened. I feel so guilty.”
Literally the same day I finished reading the ACLU/HRW report, a lawyer friend of mine sent me a video clip from a local news show that shows one of his clients – a teenage boy, nonverbal, who has autism, being dragged from a classroom, down the hall, and thrown into a room by himself, with the lights out. He sustained a broken finger during this episode, as well as having his clothes torn. When the lights come on, blood can be seen on the floor and walls.
No less than 20 states allow corporal punishment – using physical force that causes pain or discomfort – against a child with disabilities for purposes of discipline. I’m not going to debate here whether corporal punishment is effective on kids without disabilities. I am going to say, flat out, that children with disabilities should not be subject to corporal punishment in school.
The ACLU/HRW report makes clear that students with disabilities are subject to corporal punishment at significantly higher rates than their peers who don’t have disabilities. Florida ranks ninth in the nation on this list. Further, all too often, kids with disabilities are being punished for having a disability - for behavior that is a direct manifestation of their diagnosed and documented condition. The report documents instances in which this happens to children with autism and Tourette Syndrome. The report sums it up this way: “Students are being beaten for behavior they simply cannot control, or cannot reasonably be expected to control, a grossly disproportionate and fundamentally demeaning response to the child’s condition.”
How in the name of all that is right in this world can anyone expect a child who has difficulty interacting with their environment to feel safe in a place where they have been physically harmed, regardless of the reason? Before a single second of education can take place, the child’s pounding fear of being injured again will have to be successfully overcome. How often does/will this happen? Many of our children may have difficulty understanding cause and effect as far as their behavior and physical punishment is concerned. However, they can and do make the connection that the corporal punishment hurts, that they want to avoid it, that they want to avoid the person who did this to them (their teacher/principal/paraprofessional), and that they want to avoid the place in which it happened (their school).
Am I saying don’t discipline students with disabilities? Absolutely not. Rules exist for a reason and violating them requires a response – but an appropriate response. Children with disabilities are integral members of our society – they, like everyone else, need to be able to learn appropriate social skills and be able to interact with others. However, the very reason that IDEA was enacted is the realization that, for kids with disabilities, a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work. Education needs to be individualized. Physical punishment needs to be banned.
If not corporal punishment, what, then? That’s easy – something that really works with all kids, with or without disabilities – Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS). How effective is it? As cited in the ACLU/HRW report, a school for kids with disabilities that implemented it went from over 1,000 restraint incidents to zero, including zero seclusionary time outs. The effectiveness of PBS has long been known and advocated as a best practice by many, including many Florida educators, schools (many of which already implement these practices), and FND. A renewed and expanded emphasis on, and training in the methods of, PBS must now take place across Florida.
Lots of schools – district administrators, principals, teachers, paraprofessionals, and staff – get this stuff right and treat children with disabilities in their care properly and with love and respect. I’m not complaining about them and I thank and honor them for their work. Unfortunately, there are other schools that don’t get it right – the ones that ended up in the ACLU/HRW report and on the news.
The only way I can think of to effectively make sure that not another seven year old with disabilities has to wash blood off themselves at school after being punished for something is to stop it all. Now.
What’s the first step? An immediate, statewide, moratorium on corporal punishment (not just paddling, but the use of any force for discipline purposes, regardless of whether or not it is officially sanctioned by policy) used against any child covered under IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehab Act. Stop the violence immediately and then we can talk about the details. That’s why FND is calling on Governor Crist and Commissioner Smith, as well as all Superintendents of Education and School Boards across the state, to declare and impose this immediate moratorium.
What’s next? We change the law. Hearts, minds, and behaviors will follow. Just rewriting the statute books will not completely solve the issue. Leadership at all levels will be needed. Practical, intensive training of all personnel in a school, throughout the state, needs to occur to really insure that this will stick. But, first thing’s first.
Let’s stop the punishment now and make it clear that any use of physical force for purposes of discipline against a child with disabilities (seclusion and restraint is another topic for another day) will be promptly and forcefully dealt with by our schools and elected officials. We at FND stand ready to work with the Governor, the Department of Education, school districts and individual schools to implement positive models of behavioral interventions and supports. Not another single child with disabilities should get a bloody lip when what they’re trying to get instead is an education.