Our Children Deserve Better

By Irwin Jacobowitz

Abuse of children at the hands of public school personnel has risen over the last two decades and the nation is outraged; children most likely to be abused are children with disabilities, the poor, and the homeless. The abuse presents itself in various forms: restraints, seclusion, and sometimes even death.

Last year a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation
found hundreds of allegations. Children have indeed been abused and some have died as a result of the misuse of restraints & seclusion in public and private schools — often performed by untrained staff. United States Representatives George Miller and Cathy McMorris Rodgers introduced the “Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in School Act” (HR 4247), and Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut introduced a sister bill (S. 2860).

Will we ever stop asking, “what are they (everyone else) going to do about the abuse of our nation’s children?” while the rest of America sits blind; that is not necessarily their fault; they are under the assumption that their tax dollars are paying for an education without abuse, discrimination, restraints, seclusion, and retaliation. American citizens believe that when they send their children to school they will be safe not abused or killed by the principal, teacher, or aide.

We are a family that has experienced this; our children have been totally forgotten by the system and punished for their disabilities, race, and living status. We need your support in effecting change within the system. We need dedicated attorneys to stand up and represent families like ours.

For further information about restraints, seclusion, abuse, and our story, visit www.streetsights.org and Families Against Restraint and Seclusion websites.

The remainder of this opinion piece can be found on our website at
www.streetsights.org