A kid we known has been a bit fidgety lately. Not really an issue to anyone before now - with 3 weeks left in school year. And, he is not a danger to anyone.
Suddenly, perhaps just a change in teacher (as original teacher is on maternity leave), the school system recommends the kid should be in restraints. Even better, they claim they don’t even have to tell the parents! How is this legal? Not looking for legal advice. I just want to know how the Board of Ed became omnipotent? Where is this written? How/when did people lose control?
Granted, your answer may vary from US State to US State, but what is the Straightdope on the unlimitied authority of the School Board?
I would be very suspicious of this. I’m fairly certain schools are required to inform the parents any time physical action is required against a child. As lawsuit-crazy as we’ve become, it seems almost financial suicide for the school to not inform the parents and get some sort of release signed so that the school can’t be held liable.
This may be permissible in certain private schools where they claim to instill discipline in unruly kids. Parents may be asked to sign a wavier for such actions before the child is enrolled. It’s not just kids, parents can be lazy and stupid as well.
Unless this is some special needs school for developmentally disabled or troubled kids or a religious school where the teachers have been given far more latitude in discipline than in public schools (and you have given absolutely no indication in your OP this is anything but a regular public school) then your story to me makes absolutely no sense.
To restrain a child for emergencies is one thing but as a normal classroom control practice in public school? How is child in need of being physically restrained even in a regular classroom? Is he a serious disturbance everyone ignored till now?
Also, please define “a bit fidgety”. This could be shaking his leg to wandering the classroom and bothering people during classes.
First of all, what state is this? Some states still allow corporal punishment and the Board may be overreading what is allowed under CP.
Second, is the student diagnosed with an emotional disability? If so, is he in a special lock-down sort of school when restraints are neccesary?
Third, the school is technically right that they do not need to report the restraint unless it results in injury to the student. That being said, their attitude will not be viewed well by the judge/jury if the restraint is considered unnecessary. Could add a couple mill onto the judgement.
Fourth, is Judge Julius Hoffman now the head of your school board.
eta: Look up Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act. It died in the Senate.
Definitely need more info from the OP on what “a bit fidgety lately” entails. Maybe he’s just talking a little loud, or maybe he’s completely disrupting the class and threatening people.
Hey, I went to Catholic schools all the way through high school. Physically restraining a student under anything but an emergency situation would have been utterly unthinkable.
I’m with the people who say that unless this is some sort of special school for clinically-insane children or something, then the courts need to take a good hard look at that school system.
For the schools I’ve been in, I also can’t imagine school staff restraining a student. If the student was violent or argumentative enough that they needed to be physical removed or restrained, the staff at my schools would call the police to do it for them. The police would presumably be operating under their usual rules for when to restrain someone.
I’d be inclined to believe it’s a ‘special needs’ situation as I’ve never heard of a regular school tolerating a student that “should be in restraints”. Usually, the student has reached expulsion level behavior by the time physical force becomes necessary.
However, I frequently hear about mentally handicapped (or whatever PC term you want to use for people with those traits) people who become disruptive and even violent when their environment is changed, something disrupts their routine, or some seemingly random thing sets them off.
How old is the child? How is “a little fidgety” defined? Have other kids in this class exhibited changes in their behavior since the sub arrived? Maybe the sub is abusing or bullying kids in the class, and the kids are too young to express what’s going on?
I just don’t have enough information to give you an answer about that.