Report: Kids are restrained, secluded

January 14, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Schoolchildren across the U.S. have been injured or killed when they were restrained or secluded, a disability rights group says. A House committee announced a hearing on the issue.

The National Disability Rights Network, in a report Tuesday, identified cases across the country in which children, many of them with disabilities, were traumatized, injured or killed at school.

For example, 15-year-old Michigan boy with autism died while being restrained by four school employees, the report said.

In another case, a 13-year-old Georgia boy hanged himself in a locked concrete seclusion room after pleading with teachers not to isolate him for hours at a time.

The group said its report "is clearly just the tip of the iceberg" because the government doesn't have any system of collecting data about these abuses.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he would schedule a hearing on the issue.

"This report raises serious questions about the treatment of schoolchildren, the qualifications and training of staff, and what actions have been taken to address these unconscionable practices," Miller said. "No child should be at risk or in danger while at school, no matter what the circumstances."