Stop Hitting Our Kids:  Do’s and Don’ts 

Rich La Belle, Executive Director, Family Network on Disabilities 

We have to ask ourselves – what will it take?  How many more kids with disabilities will be mistreated, abused, even killed, in schools before fundamental change occurs?  Every few days there is another story about a child with disabilities being mistreated by an educational professional. People wonder why so many parents get burned out and hostile – why placing cameras in the classroom may be considered to be a related service.   

Before we go any further, let me make it clear that this is not a “parent” problem – it is a problem for every school district, every administrator, every principal, every teacher, every paraprofessional, every staff member in every school.  This is our problem and it will take all of us working together – truly cooperating – to change these behaviors and do away with cultures that permit this kind of abuse.  You may say that it doesn’t happen in your district, that you have policies against corporal punishment, against seclusion and restraint, that you believe in and implement Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS).  Well, what we’re seeing play out in the news is that the abuse of our kids with disabilities is happening all across the country, often “off the books,” in violation of existing policy and law.  Things are being done to our kids that aren’t allowed anywhere officially or legally - but they’re still happening.   I was asked recently what we – parents of kids with disabilities – want from schools.  This is simple – really simple.  We want our children to be safe.  We want our children to be educated.  We want our children to receive a free and appropriate public education that is their right under the law.  That’s it.              

What we want can be boiled down into a couple of simple lists – “do’s” and “don’ts”.  These are truths that I consider to be self evident.  These examples all stem from actual cases.  Whether or not they have yet been proven in a court of law is not crucial for us here.  I think everybody will agree that we shouldn’t be doing the things listed below.  By the way, I started this list about two weeks ago and, unfortunately, have had to add several “don’ts” since then as new cases have been reported.            

So, for educational professionals, while you have our children in your care to be educated and kept safe, please don’t do the following. 

DON’T: 

Don’t hit our kids – anywhere, for anything.  There are other ways of discipline that are much more effective. 

Don’t strap them down or tie them up.    

Don’t slam them into walls.    

Don’t put them into isolation rooms that are prison cells in all but name (or closets, or darkened classrooms by themselves, or in supply rooms where they can reach stuff that they can hurt themselves with).    

Don’t slap them, punch them, pinch them, drag them, kick them, choke them, twist their limbs, step on their feet, or trip them.    

Don’t strip them down to their underwear.    

Don’t give them foods they’re allergic to in hopes of making them sick. 

Don’t make them eat their own vomit. 

Don’t make them sit in their own feces.    

Don’t laugh at them, mock them, humiliate them.    

Don’t punish them for behaviors that are a result of their disability – they can’t control this and it isn’t fair.    

Don’t have them arrested for minor behavior issues.    

Don’t lie on top of them to restrain them – they can’t breathe that way.    

Don’t make them bleed.    

Don’t kill them.  

Too harsh?  See the U.S. Government Accountability Office report on seclusions and restraints titled “Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and private Schools and Treatment Centers” here:  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09719t.pdf.  Also read the report by the National Disability Rights Network (the national organization of all Federally-funded Protection and Advocacy entities for persons with disabilities) here: http://www.napas.org/sr/SR-Report.pdf and the report from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) here: http://www.copaa.org/pdf/UnsafeCOPAAMay_27_2009.pdf.   

DO: 

Do speak up when you see others mistreating children.  Silence = complicity and is just as damning.   

Do walk away if you’re burnt out, can’t take it any more, or think anything on the “Don’t” list is okay to do.  The students entrusted to your care and protection are not criminals.  If any of this is too hard for you, find another line of work.   

Do get yourself, your peers, and your school training in PBS.  Lots of this stuff is free.  If you don’t believe in PBS and don’t practice it, you shouldn’t be teaching kids receiving special education services.  Here are some resources:  http://www.pbis.org/ and http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/index.asp. 

To the educational professionals reading this, please understand this for what it is:  A good faith plea from parents to work with you as partners to make our schools better and our children safer.  Thank you very, very much to those who have accepted or will accept this offer.  I really believe in the power of doing positive things.  I don’t believe in just pointing out a problem without trying to be part of the solution.  We know PBS works.  Let’s all of us work to implement this across our educational system – in all schools, in all states, period.  What better legacy could we all leave our children with disabilities?            

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