Isolation booth: Abuse or therapy for school kids?
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LONGVIEW, Wash. – Longview Public School administrators call it an "isolation booth" and photos of it are creating a Facebook firestorm.
Some parents say they're worried kids are being abused when they're locked inside it at school.
The isolation booth has been at Mint Valley Elementary School for the past four years. That's because the school hosts a special education program for disabled students with behavioral issues. The booth is used to calm some of them down when they're at risk of hurting themselves or others.
In a matter of hours after they were posted, the photos of the isolation booth were shared on Facebook about 100 times.
The pictures show that from the outside, the booth is located in a storage area and has two peepholes at different heights. Inside, students can sit on the floor of the small padded room, and the ceiling features air holes for ventilation.
The original Facebook poster, Ana Bate, a Longview mother, criticized its use as abusive, arguing children are locked in for crying or tapping on their desks.
Comments echoed by other Facebook posters like Darren Pirtle asked "seriously ... have the police been notified that this is being used??"
Marcy Brinkerhoff-Hogg wrote, "that is terrible and should NEVER be used regardless if the child is out of control or not."
And Jena Raelyn Brown suggested, writing in all capital letters: "if a parent did that at home they would get put in jail!!!"
Bate, whose 10-year-old son is not in the special education program, told KATU News late Tuesday night that her son told her he saw several kids go in the box.
In one instance, a female aide came up behind a boy, picked him up off the floor and dropped him into the isolation box. He landed on the floor and cried the entire time. In another instance a boy, who was placed inside the box for lifting up a desk, became violent while he was inside.
"My question for the school district is how is that therapeutic if not directly opposite from this supposed reinforcement they'd like everybody to believe it to be?" she said. "If they are being paid to lock people up, get extra education and work in mental health or psychiatric units, not with children that have minds that need to be explored, need to be expanded, that need to feel safe."
But the district does not think it is abusive.
"People have their own opinions without having a lot of the information about it. I would not classify it as abusive," said Sandy Catt, the director of communications for Longview public schools.
Catt said that the isolation booth is designed as therapy for children needing to calm down.
Of the 6,500 students in the Longview School District, only eight or nine are allowed to go inside, and that's because the school has permission from their parents.
"It is concerning to us that there may not be a complete understanding of the situation," Catt said.
She said some of the eight or nine kids voluntarily go inside the booth for a break from stimulation. She added when the door is locked a school staff member is outside, monitoring what happens.
Catt said the school district had never received a complaint about the isolation booth until Tuesday, and still, none of those complaints has come from parents whose students went inside.
And for those parents who object, their students would never be placed inside because the district requires parent permission. Bate told KATU News she questions parents who agree to let their kids go inside the box.
My son has ODD and ADHD I would never NEVER be ok with this. I just can't believe people are ok with this if my son was going to harm himself our someone he would never leave my side I am his parent that's my job . This is crazzzzzyyyyyyyyy!!!
                  What is wrong with the state of Wa.state put your self in there and close the door bad person this crazy ness. Wat is wrong with the school?
 @Duane Alexander =/ What a well-formulated, coherent argument.Â
"ANY" child that is misbehaving or disruptive needs a quiet room. It is not the schools responsibility to provide counseling for these children, it is the parentâs responsibility to teach their children that mis-behaving and being disruptive in a classroom is not acceptable and that children need a quiet place to cool down. Those with psychological issues need to have treatment outside the school. If parents sign off and approve of the quiet room, where is the problem? That room is padded for the childâs safety and is in a soft pastel color for a calming effect. For any parent that says children with disabilities need to be put in another school that is a form of discrimination and segregation. Schools should not have to provide a "babysitter" to sit with the child that is being disruptive. Teachers do not have the time to deal with disruptive children and a quiet room gives a child to think about their actions and cool down. What is the difference of a parent sending their child to a 10x 8 bedroom when they are acting out? The only difference is, at school the disruptive children aren't rewarded with a room full of toys to play with. Look at some of these people that are complaining, that says a lot. As ABC World News just reported, how they can compare a quiet room to those schools that have used skin shock therapy and then strapped to a board is absurd. A quiet room is totally different than shocking and immobilizing a child, there is no comparison.
There are some students that absolutely need a space like this. I am very happy to see some of the comments on here from those of you that understand what some special needs children NEED. I am quite frankly tired of seeing this woman talk about it, because apparently she doesn't understand. And KVAL should have presented someone who understands these things along with her when presenting it on TV.
@NativeCB I like your comment because I would be one of those parents that don't understand about special need kids and would like to know more about the other side of the coin here.
My son was in special ed here in Eugene. His grade school had a "calming room", but it wasn't padded. I was told they could "choose" to take space there. There were violent students in his class, but my son was not one of them. He had add/attention issues. My son told me a few years later that he never chose to go in there. They forced him to go in there and they would lock the door! He said it scared him. No wonder his behavior worsened to the point where he didn't want to return to school, so we ended up homeschooling for several years. This is just one tiny example of what's wrong with our school system.
@EugeneNative Really:Â And you believe him?
I can see this going two ways. Having an autistic child I can see how this would be very comforting for them because they get over stimulated. A child who has a melt down needs a place  where they feel comfortable and where they will not harm themselves. At the same time the teacher needs to be there and comfort the child in a calmly manner. This should not be taken advantage of and used just for any child who the teacher feels is bisbehaving. I have seen in our local schools that teachers send children down to the office because they feel they are a distraction for the simplist thing.It ends up they just dont connect with the child and dont want to deal with them. There should be some training that goes along with this and every person involved should know what to do. There should be guidlines and parent involvment. Â
@oregongirl Here is an easy fix, if you can't control your child at home, they can't be controlled at school. Just call the parent, make thenm leave work and lose time from work to deal with their child.  It is the parent's responsibilty to teach their child how to deal with stress without having a meltdown. A month of taking time off from work on a regular basis will make a parent think twice about thinking it is the school's responsibilty to correct a parent't poor parenting. If a parent of a developmentally challanged child agree's to this practice, then that is their business, not ours. If your child is just plain out of control due to bad parenting, make the parent come get the child whether they have to take time off work or walk a mile to the school.
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 @flor3nc3 Not in Lane County. And you obviously know NOTHING about autistic kids. It's not about discipline.
Another example of lazy and incompetent teachers taking to easy way out instead of doing their jobs. Yes, now let's hear the negative comments start.Â
Thank you!!!!! Most people commenting about this have no idea what it is like to deal with a violent child or one that can't control themselves! They are supervised and are much safer enclosed by themselves. I could go on and on with this but its really not worth it.
Sounds like a lot of busybodies who have no idea about special needs children sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and creating a fuss just because they can. That would be a very comforting room for a lot of autistic kids, and even if it's not comforting it is a least calming... a break from all the stimulation. Since the parents consent, it's really not anyone else's business.
@PleaseBeSmartYou are so right. And it's not just special needs children, some parent's who had no right having children in the first place, have no idea on how to teach their children respect and acceptable behavior. They allow them to pull a temper tantrum to get their way at home, so they do the same at school. disrupting the entire class. And they think it is the schools responsibiltiy to do their job.
 @PleaseBeSmart I agree. Key word: "voluntarily." It sounds like a good way for a child to redirect themselves when feeling overstimulated.