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Ghraib Schools or Grade Schools?

• By SchoolWatch Report
• Published 01/22/2009
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Ghraib Schools or Grade Schools?
A common thread.... The Shame of a Nation !
SchoolWatch Report
By George Deabold

Abu Ghraib, 2004

The U.S. Defense Department removed seventeen soldiers and officers from duty,They all were involved in the abuse that took place at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The prison is also known as the Baghdad Correctional Facility.In 2004 articles of the abuse, including pictures showing military personnel abusing prisoners, came to public attention when a 60 Minutes news report aired in April. The 60 minutes report was followed by an article by Seymour M. Herish in the New Yorker Magazine. It was also revealed by the 2004 Taguba Report a criminal investigation by the US Army Criminal Investigation Command had already been underway since 2003. Multiple recruits from the 320Th Military Police Battalion had been charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse.The accounts of abuse included torture,sodomy and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.. It has been determined that at least some of these acts occurred, and they were committed by some personnel of the 372ND Military Police Company of the United States Army together with additional American governmental agencies. These additional agencies have been referred to as the OGA(Other Government Agencies), which is an often used euphemism for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Soldiers that served at the prison were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. Seven soldiers were found guilty, convicted in court martial and sentenced to federal prison time. Two soldiers, Specialist Charles Graner , and his former fiance, Specialist Lynndie England, were sentenced to ten years and three years in prison. Some Soldiers were dishonorably discharged from the service. The commanding officer at the prison, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, was demoted to the rank of Colonel on May 5, 2005.Karpinski denied knowledge of the abuses claiming that she was not even allowed entry into the interrogation rooms.Janis Karpinski the commander of Abu Ghraib was demoted for her lack of oversight regarding the abuse .Karpinski was also claiming that the interrogations were authorized by her superiors and performed by subcontractors.
Janis Karpinski estimated later that 90% of detainees in the prison were innocent.
Sgt. Ivan Frederick sitting on an Iraqi detainee between two stretchers

* * You have just read about the atrocities of Abu Graib prison in Iraq, Please continue and read about the atrocities against the American disabled student population.


Schools, 2009

Children are supposed to be safe at school and most of the time they are. Children with disabilities are not safe in some schools or school placements. Disabled students are often subjected to inhuman treatment: being locked in rooms, tied down, or worse. A few very disturbing practices still continue to the detriment of Americas disabled children. The practices and philosophies behind them threatens the welfare and safety of America's disabled student population.It violates the childrens rights to the full and safe inclusion in the education system.What practices am I talking about ? I am talking about Restraint or Seclusion in Schools.There are many families from all over the United States who have children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders and other disabilities that are being restrained and put into locked seclusion rooms in the public school system. What is Seclusion ? Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a child alone in a room or area and prevention of the child from leaving that area. "Seclusion" and "time-out" are not the same thing. **Not the same thing !!
What is Restraint ?Restraint is a manual method or physical or mechanical device that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a child to move. It does not include most orthopedic or medically prescribed devices.Prone restraint is the particularly dangerous practice of restraining a child face down.Now that the two practices are exsplaind lets talk about

Inclusion

Inclusion is vital to a childs success in school and adult life.What is Inclusion ? Inclusion is the practice of educating disabled students with their non disabled peers to the maximum extent possible.Inclusion is a right granted by the federal goverment.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).Grants such rights and protections, The right to and promise of a free, appropriate, public education has expanded the opportunities for full inclusion of students with disabilities. That being said, many children still face major challenges in obtaining full access to the education system they are entitled to. Children are still being denied access and inclusion and many children are subjected to the abuse of Seclusion and Restraint. Some nay sayers may claim these are isolated incidents, but agencies, parents and media across this country report that school children have been tied up, duct taped,held down,pinned down, beaten,battered or even killed.This is starting to look like an epidemic, turn on your television or radio,go on the Internet, Pick up a newspaper or Magazine and chances are you will hear or read a report about another child being injured, Secluded, restrained or killed in a school setting or placement.

This Problem is not caused by parental neglect or the failure of students, This root cause is the failure of the education system. The education system is failing on the national,state and local level. The abusive use of Isolation and restraint often goes unreported or unchecked.children are being injured physically and mentally. Their is a lack of appropriate programs and placements.Their is also a shortage of qualified teachers and staff available to educate the disabled children that attend the public school system.Some parents are afraid to speak up because they fear retaliation from their school districts.School administrators and staff often use child protective services as a weapon against vocal or proactive parents.The flip side of the coin is when parents report on a school abusing a student or students little or nothing gets done about it.The parents that blow the whistle are often painted as cranks,nuts or rabbel rousers,truth be told most of society would rather not believe that schools or school staff are hurting children.There is very little accountability if any.Many parents do not even know that their children are being restrained and put in seclusion.Many states have no laws or regulations that pertain to Restraint or Seclusion and in the states that due have regulations the regulations and laws are often ignored or not adherd to. There is no tracking or recording system in place. In most of the cases of seclusion or restraint there is no consent needed or sought from the childs parents.In most of the cases usually their is no prior or post parent notification the implementation of seclusion or restraint, the Abused child is just sent home on the bus at the end of the day. This is a very dangerous situation. A situation that calls for national concern,swift action and reform.

The children should be protected from this type of school abuse and reporting should be mandated.The data should be collected and made public. To that end a new report has just been put out by the National Disability Rights Network (JAN.2009) The report is about the abusive use of Restraint or Seclusion by school staff, teachers,auxiliary personnel and administrators. This report identifies the abusive use of restraint or seclusion nationwide. The report shows that the abusive use of restraint or seclusion has often resulted in injury or trama to the children with disabilities,and in some cases the abuse ended with the childs death. In a Capitol Hill news conference last week, groups that included the Florida Families against Restraint and Seclusion unveiled a disturbing national report on seclusion and restraint in U.S. schools. The groups called for a ban on prone restraint.Prone restraint is very dangerous.The group also wants a ban on Seclusion.The groups called for increased teacher training and seeks immediate action by state and local government.The National Disability Rights Network wants help from the Obama Administration and Congress. NDRN called for the incoming Obama administration and 111th Congress to ban the use of prone restraint and seclusion under federal law.NDRN identified inconsistent state laws and a lack of government oversight and investigation of this issue. .The NDRN report, titled School is Not Supposed to Hurt, urges states to enact a series of policies. The report shows an unsettling use of seclusion and restraint tactics resulting in physical and emotional injuries as well as deaths in schools serving students grades K-12. The report documents specific cases, including several from Florida. The group is also calling for a national summit to devise plans to implement these bans and encourage the use of evidence-based positive behavioral supports.

In the NDRN report the examples in the"Chronicles of Harm" section show what school children have been subjected to.The report gives many horrific instances of restraint or seclusion.
The children have been Strapped down to their chairs, even wheelchairs, Pinned on the floor by several adults (sometimes for hours at a time),Children have also been Grabbed and dragged into rooms,Held in arm locks,Handcuffed,Placed in coffin-like boxes and cells,Locked in closets,children were put in seclusion and were not allowed to use restrooms and they were forced to sit in their own urine if they were unable to "hold" themselves.children were Subjected to other physically and psychologically traumatizing acts of violence by school personnel and others.Some of the abuse was fatal like the first two examples below :
Georgia ,

A thirteen year old hanged himself in a small concrete-walled, locked seclusion room, using a cord provided by a teacher to hold up his pants. This eighth-grader had pleaded with his teachers that he could not stand being locked within the small seclusion room for hours at a time. The boy had threatened suicide in school a few weeks before his death.
Texas,

A 14 year old middle school student was killed when his teacher held him down, ignoring his plea "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." Knowing that the student, with a mental illness and other disabilities, was sensitive to food issues because he had been denied food when he was younger, the teacher sought to punish the student for his aggressive behavior by refusing him lunch. When the student tried to leave the classroom to go to the lunchroom the use of deadly restraint by the teacher ensued.

Wyoming, A parent was shocked to arrive at her child's elementary school and find five adults restraining her screaming and crying child in a facedown prone restraint position on the seclusion room floor. The child sustained multiple rug burns and bruises including finger marks around his neck. The abusive restraint was triggered by the child's refusal to run in his physical education class.

Colorado, Children were physically placed in a "time-out" room and were not allowed to use the restroom, if needed. This forced students to sit in their own urine if they were unable to "hold" themselves. One student attempted to strangle herself with her clothing on two separate occasions within a two week period after she was put in the time-out room.The school continued to isolate the student another eight times. A student with multiple disabilities, including self-injurious behavior, was held down by school staff or locked in a "time-out" room where he would severely injure himself and was left to sit in his own blood. The child's experience made him terrified to go to school and his parents were forced to transfer him to an in-patient care institution. Food was denied to students in "time-out" and some were forced to wait until the end of the day to eat.Below are some other dangerous and disturbing incidents of seclusion that P&As have investigated:

Alabama, A child with autism was segregated and isolated from his peers at a desk in the hall of the school's basement.

Arizona, A nine year old girl with developmental disabilities was suspended from school because she refused to go into a small wooden box in the corner of The isolation box was completely enclosed with slide and turn locks on both the top and bottom of the door.

In closing you may now be asking yourself why would this author be comparing the Abu Ghraib situation to disabled children in the American school system,clearly the two situations are very diffrent.One would only like to believe that there are many major differences between a U.S. school and an abusive ABA Ghraib prison. Well truth be told their are a lot of hoffific similarities between that prison and some of the schools in the US special education systeme.Americias Special Education Children are routinely denied access to food,water,Sanitary facilities/ bathrooms, the children are being beaten restrained and held captive in total isolation.

Isolation that often has improper heating, poor lighting if any and substandard air circulation.The American children are now traped and being Wharhoused in abusive instutions.The disabled children are being Subjected to the abuse of the immoral captores.The captor's and abusers are the childs school or local school district.The schools are acting and operating on the approval of your local, state and federal goverment.The government after all funds the atrocities and turn a blind eye to the abuse.The governments silence and inaction beats the drum of approval for the status quo..I can only wonder when uncle sam will sanction medical experiments on the disabled American school children held in captivity.Does that sound a little crazy ? Well look at what is already going on...Talk about shame of a nation ! !

I wrote about the similarity's between Abu Ghraib and some American schools.I would now like to point out four major differences between both situations..

Difference #1.

Some of the people that worked at Abu Ghraib were held accountable - soldiers went to prison,court martial ect.
(Teachers and school staff are rarely if ever held accountable for the abuse they inflict.)

Difference #2.
The abuse at the prison has been supposedly stopped.
(The abuse of America's disabled children deffinitly continues)

Difference #3.
Janis Karpinski the commander of Abu Ghraib estimated that 90% of detainees in the prison were innocent.
(100% of the disabled American children that fall victim to the abusive use of Restraint or Seclusion are innocent)

Difference # 4.In 2004,- The American media,politicians and citizens came out and condemned the horrific conditions and treatment of the prisoners of Abu Ghraib prision.The Media coverage was hugh and the story was in just about all of the news papers and magazines repedadly.The national and local TV stations could not get enough of the scandal. ( The story ran for months )

( In contrast .. In 2009,-The The National Disability Rights Network report on the treatment of American special education students came out last week.The report highlighted atrocities against American children. The reported abuse included unlawful inprisionment and restraint.Denial of food, water air and light.The report also included incidence of dereliction of duty (by teachers and school staff), maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery.In my opinion the accounts of abuse also included torture and homicide. The American media,politicians and citizens did not come out to condemn the horrific treatment of disabled American school children.The media coverage was lacking and the story was not in all of the news papers and magazines.The national and local TV stations did not run the story.I guess most people just dont care and that leaves me disappointed, bewildered and sad. )
*This abuse has to be stopped,and stopped now. American children need to be protected in the school setting. We have child protective agencies to investigate abuse, and laws to protect children from abuse in the home.Why do schools and school systems go unchecked ? Teachers and schools are custodial care givers, children are in the schools custody for a major part of the day. Public School or school attendance is mandated to some degree in all of the states.School staff turn parents in to CPS or child welfare services all of the time.The allegations range from educational neglect, molestation,neglect, physical or emotional abuse or child endangerment. I cant believe that in this day an age that a parent cant turn a teacher in for all of the same offences or allegations. The US or state education departments have no investigative arm that adequately address the problem. Its time to form some kind of Child protective School Services Units. The units would be charged with the investigations,discipline and prosecution of school administrators, teachers and other school staff.
Lets all remember,

They are America's children not prisoners of war and apparently even prisoners of war have the right to not be abused.

To read the full  National Disability Rights Network report go to www.NDRN.org                                 
For more info on this topic go to Parents Against Restraint and Seclusion http://familiesagainstrestraintandseclusion.blogspot.com

Published January 23, 2009

It is with sadness that I tell you, that at the same time Congress is hearing testimony on the child abuse caused by seculsion rooms and restraints and the 20 documented deaths, that there was a parent meeting last night at the school district in West Chester, PA to discuss the recent installation of seclusion rooms. They are called quiet rooms and sensory rooms. They were put in because the principal was, "at a Pennsylvania Department of Education Seminar and talked to other principals and thought it was a good idea... so I installed them during vacation". Parents were shocked to find out that their children have been put in these small rooms without notification, appropriate behavioral plans, deescalation plans or crisis plans and with no ventilation systems and with bright floresent lights - for refusing to do their work.

The post traumatic stress it created caused several children to fear going to school and one could not drive by the school without significant anxiety. One child feared going in and being left there again, so long that he might have a bathroom accident. The temperature last night was 50+ degrees outside and the seclusion room was stuffy and hard to breath in. It had a brick wall and was bare with no sensory equipment. The school district openly admitted to no policies or procedures. The one room is smaller than the cage used at the local SPCA for holding dogs. Parents named many other local mainline school districts that also use such barbaric, ineffective punitive and abusive techniques.

Former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey once said that "the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

Marie Lewis RN, PhD, BCEA
Neuro-Developmental Disability Case Manager
Educational Consultant

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