'I found him face down, screaming ... with two teachers on top of him'

This is why if I had a school aged child,( I have 2 but they are grown), I would home school! The more I hear about what these schools allow, without parent consent, the more I am for home schooling. If I had a child in the school I would rip him/her out so fast their heads would spin.

I work in a nursing home were I get hit bit kicked all kinds of stuff we don't lock them in a room why would it be ok for our kids. No matter what !! Is this room violating fire codes. The kids are calling it the chokey off the movie matilda!

Because of the many types of children teachers are now asked to educate, I support the use of these rooms, as long as parents are informed of their existence and of the policies regulating their use. Parents should also be told whenever their child has been placed in the room.

 

My son, who is autistic, went to a Springfield school where such a room existed. At the beginning of the year, the teacher showed me the room and explained its use. If I recall correctly, not only could teachers place a child in the room, but a child could request a time-out in the room if he/she felt the need for a sensory break. It was much more welcoming (purple padding, soft pillows, stuffed animals and comforting sensory items) than the room at McCornack.

Thank you Kimberly well said I just got off the phone with McCormick were my kids go and I'm not sending my kids there I told them I want see this room and show my son so he can tell me if he has ever been in it. I want to know who make the call about these kids !! I will find out !!! This is wrong in so many ways

I find it disturbing that if a padded room is such a necessary part of keeping kids under control when a teacher in a school or another student feels threatened, that parents are not told about this.  Even telling a parent that their kid acted out in a potentially threatening way but omitting that the disciplinary procedure is to put the kid in a padded cell is not honest.  Whether the behavior is a result of bad parenting, biology, or bullies, if it's bad enough that teachers or other students feel threatened, you go to the parent from the very start.  Let people who are trained and licensed in child psychology who work in places like the Child Center be the judge of when a child needs the mother of all time-outs.  Seclusion like this only belongs in psychiatric wards and penal institutions, not a public school.  You see, a school's job is to prepare students to ENTER society, not to determine who should be removed from it.  But if the problem is that bad, the concern that high, the need for intervention that great, well, if the school willfully and intentionally withholds from a parent the fact that they "had" to lock a child in a cell to calm down...

 

I'm not denying that there are kids who truly need help.  They do.  But these are kids.  They're not inpatients or inmates, The fact that the school chose to use tactics that are used on people who do fit those two descriptions but elect not to tell the parent of this particular method of discipline just does not pass the smell test.  Bottom line, to use a tired cliche, where there's smoke, there's fire.  Something is very wrong here.  I do not disagree that schools should have the right to discipline children whose behavior is unacceptable.  However, I do object to any public school using such extreme and inappropriate methods outside the places they are intended for.  

 

Now, I have a little sister who is exactly half my age and just graduated from high school in Eugene last June.  She had her ups and downs but if a teacher or someone in the school had done this to her, I cannot begin to describe how angry we would have been.  I can't imagine what it must have been like for this woman to come into the school and see her child treated the way he was.  There is no excuse for what happened here.  Absolutely none.  Those people should be ashamed of themselves, to say the least.

 

I hope this mother wins her case.  I hope the Oregon Department of Education gets wind of this if they haven't already, and if they just sit on their hands, I hope this goes to the U.S. Department of Education.  No, let me rephrase that last: I hope this goes to the U.S. Department of Education PERIOD.   And I hope every good lawyer in Oregon steps up to lend their assistance in some way to this woman and her son.  

I remember spending time in a sports equipment closet at Charleston elementary in 1971. 1st grade teacher  Ms. Jones would drag me down the hall by my ear calling my family white trash and then locking me in the closet till the buses were just about to leave. She is probably 70 years old by now but I would still return the favor if given a chance.

The fact that I never knew about this room just makes me so mad ! If your child needs a safe place a locked padded room in not the answer some of these rooms have no padding it just plan crazy. One of my boys is ODD and ADHD and no way I would ever lock them in a room and if I for one second thought he would harm himself our someone else he would not be there he would be with me I am his mother and I would deal with that not the school!!

You know what my boys go to this school for 4 years now I knew nothing about this room I'm so upset about this . The fact that I had to even ask my son's if they were put in a room like this is so outrages it mad my stomach turn. This room should not even be in any schools. It is cruel punishment to do this if I had a room like this in my home I would be in jail !!!! I pulling my kids out of that school. And those of you for this put your child in that room!

We moved to eugene from lincoln city due to the fact that they could not meet our daughters needs for her education. She was not allowed to go into public school due to her behavioral issues. SO we were sent to the Child Center. normal time for a student is 6months to a year, My daughter spent 3 years. She spent many many days in the safe room. Finally in her third year she was able to communicate what her needs and flustrations were. Her brain wouldn't allow her to express herself the right day. She is now a sophmore and is doing great. She talks about her time in the safe room off and on and says it was the best for her. The people working with these children with severe behaviarol problems should be taught  and be certified, Not just the regular 4th grade teacher who might be a bit upset about something.

Somehow this discussion has gotten off of the subject.  Is is alright for schools to have rooms that are notably used in mental institutions and jails.  Is this what we want in our schools?  Do we want children watching as their peers are dragged down hallways and put in mysterious rooms?  Do we want to have our young children think that it could possibly happen to them?   Think about it!  There are ways to work with ADHD students that doesn't include seclusion or restraint.

 

 Waiting to sit still before time starts, is like expecting a puppy to sit still?  ADHD kids by definition can't sit still.  Think about someone that can't walk, expecting them to walk! 

Thank you KVAL for bringing this discussion to the forefront!  Schools need money in order to provide support for both students and teachers as well as training.   It isn't the teacher's fault, nor the parents, and certainly not the students that this state and country don't REALLY care about education!

I recall in elementary school having a special needs kid go crazy at recess and beat the living crap out of a 3rd grader. Was the child being held down for others protection? Some people and children are stronger than they look and can do some damage when they get out of control. I would rather hear the kid being placed in the padded room than having them held down and possibly hurt from that. Hands on approaches are more traumatizing then seclusion.

You know, if schools think that this is required, and it may very well be needed, then it's time to rethink the idea of mandatory education. If a kid is so out of control that it takes two teachers to restrain him/her, then it just may be that a classroom environment isn't the place for that kid. Keep in mind all of the weird behavior that goes on at schools, bullying, hazing, degradation. Many kids can't handle any of that. Also when you have so many more kids in a classroom, performance will go down. I know that so many kids are terribly frustrated when they simply can't do the work because it isn't well taught, or the books don't make sense, or they would just rather be outside and running around...

so a lot of people dont like the seclusion room,cool send them home every time they dont act in accordance with school policy,thats fair to the teacher the other students and the school,maybe the parents will come up with a good way control their child

Your kid is a spazz and needs to follow directions. Sounds like a lack of discipline at home to me. This ADHD is a bunch of B.S. They are not special need kids. That is how the school gets more money. And the pharmaceutical companies who turn your kid into a drug addict in elementary school. He is just a strong willed kid who obviously has no respect for authority. I see nothing wrong with these rooms.

I think we need to bring corporal punishment back to our schools. All these fancy medical terms and abbreviations they call diseases are just silly. Kids act out because they are not diciplined properly. Instill some fear into them and they'll shape up right quick. Worked just fine back in my day.

These schools were never designed for the volume of children they hold now. The teachers were never designed to be mental health proffessionals. I like what someone said when they wrote " well meaning parents have taken disipline  completely out of the hands of our schools and given the zoo to the animals"  Teachers can only do so much in a day. Send the child home everytime there is a dicipline issue and see how long it takes to straighten the child out. If the child continously disrupts the  class then maybe they are not a good fit for the public school system. There are schools for upper level grade kids who were not a good fit for the public school system but thrive in the alternative systems. Could be time we made a system for the lower level grades. Design teachers that are trained for elementary level kids with mental health issues. My heart goes out to the teachers because they became councilors for hundreds of kids. There hasn't been much justice for the kids with the issues or the teachers with need to keep the classroom focused on education.

I imagine that being in this "room" is quite traumatizing for the children.  Being the parent of a first grader, I know my own son would be scared to death of being put in there.  When is a first grader (or any other elementary school age child for that matter) so much of a physical threat to the adult staff that they need this kind of seclusion and/or restraint?!??  Also this kind of disciplinary action teaches the child nothing!  Teachers and other admin. at McCornack should be using a more compassionate approach vs. a punitive approach. I think they would have a much better success rate for the need of this kind disciplinary action.  39 restraints and 25 isolations in one school year?   There is about 170 school days out of the year so that works out to be about 1 child being restrained every 4 to 5 days and 1 child being held in isolation about every 6 to 7 days?!?  That just seems completely insane to me. 

Having elementary age children and seeing first hand how some of them act, I whole heartily support the use of seclusion rooms and restraints as long as they are administered and monitored by trained personnel.   I've watched kids have complete violent breakdowns and not only lash out a teachers, but other children as well.  In many instances these children could be seen entering the school the next day with a fresh chance to make better decisions.  That being said, it takes a lot and/or extreme behavior to be actually expelled from a 4j elementary school.  There is no way this mother was in kept in the complete dark about her son's behavior.  She either refused to work with the school or has some delusional belief in her sons behavior. If the school hadn't done something about this one dangerous child I'm sure they would have been open to several other lawsuits of child endangerment (I know if a school is knowingly putting my children in the same room as a violent individual and my child is hurt there would be heck to pay).  Perhaps KVAL should seek out opinions and references from other sources such as DHS, psychologist, and psychiatrist.  No where in the report is it mentioned what medical professionals feel about the subject and when it should be applied.

I hate to come on like a--hole, but well meaning parents have taken disipline  completely out of the hands of our schools and given the zoo to the animals. since then, our schools have gone straight to hell.  Isolation in a padded cell may not be pleasant but it`s not torture either. It`s time-out for the uncontrolable kid.  I think we need to put one in every school Out of control kids become out of control adults.  You need to look no further than our overcrowded jails to understand my point.

Frankly, I think this is irresponsible journalism and more along the line if incendiary rumor mongering. KVAL - you are presenting one, totally slanted side of an incident that you did not substantiate from any other source. It appears that your desire for sensationalism overcame your respect for responsible research and journalism. You have disgraced the school district and embarrassed your professional standing - for the cause of what? Instead of doing a thorough investigation of policy and practice, out of convenience you chose to run this inflammatory story.  I am not a resident of the district but your article is reprehensible and is a perfect example of what gives "the media" a bad name.

Thank you KVAL for your coverage of this important story! You captured a huge amount of information in this segment. That is how journalism is done!

What's really slimy here is that the school district is doing this without even notifying parents that it is happening, so that parents have a chance to be involved in solving whatever the problem is.  That failure to notify should be considered completely unacceptable!

I think any instance of seclusion should be seen as a big problem, a sign that something needs to be done differently so that this doesn't need to happen again.  Because seclusion isn't good for kids, and it is likely to just contribute to more problems in the future.  We need a better system......