House Approves Bill to Protect Schoolchildren from Harmful Restraint and Seclusion

WASHINGTON, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–March 4, 2010.  In response to a recent government investigation that found widespread allegations that children were being abused through misuses of restraint and seclusion in classrooms, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved bipartisan legislation to protect children from inappropriate uses of these practices in schools. The Keeping All Students Safe Act (H.R. 4247) passed by a vote of 262 to 153.  A U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last spring exposed hundreds of alleged cases of schoolchildren being abused as a result of inappropriate uses of restraint and seclusion, often involving untrained staff. The victims were children as young as three and four, students with disabilities and without disabilities, who attended both public and private schools. In a number of cases, children died. In some of the cases GAO investigated, ropes, duct tape, and chairs with straps and bungee cords were used to restrain or isolate young children.