What. The. Fuck.
Dec. 17th, 2008 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saliennehttp://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/17/seclusion.rooms/index.html
^That is absolutely disgusting. First off, let's pretend for just a moment that there's nothing wrong with sticking a child (in school) in a seclusion room for hours, that seclusion=time out, and that seclusion should not be used only as a last-resort measure to prevent danger to self or others that should be discontinued ASAP. Let's even pretend it can help a child and doesn't have the potential to cause trauma.
A concrete room where the only window out [i.e. to the hall with staff] has been covered up? Not only is this the worst type of seclusion room you could have, but the child is hardly being observed, staff have given him the means to kill himself, and the person "observing" him isn't even trained and has no idea that this child is suicidal?
First off, train your staff. You're putting your hands on a kid and then isolating them; at the very least know when to do it and how to do it right.
Secondly, don't deny access to these rooms to not only reporters but also investigators such as psychiatric nurses. If there's something you don't want people to see, chances are, you shouldn't be doing it. And you probably know it.
Thirdly, inform parents. Yeah, it can be a hassle, but when you encroach on a person's liberty like that, his or her legal guardian has a (probably legal) right to know. Either because you're being a fucktard or, in the case where you've acted appropriately, so that they can get the child some help.
Fourth, do some actual research. Look at what seclusion and restraint do and how best to carry them out. Again, train your teachers on what to do during potentially violent situations and during a "take down". Prevention--it can also be immensely helpful.
But... honestly, this story (and the fact that the practice is so wide-spread in schools) makes sitting there and staring at the video monitor of the seclusion room, just wishing for the patient to stop screaming and fall asleep already, seem happy and fuzzy.
^That is absolutely disgusting. First off, let's pretend for just a moment that there's nothing wrong with sticking a child (in school) in a seclusion room for hours, that seclusion=time out, and that seclusion should not be used only as a last-resort measure to prevent danger to self or others that should be discontinued ASAP. Let's even pretend it can help a child and doesn't have the potential to cause trauma.
A concrete room where the only window out [i.e. to the hall with staff] has been covered up? Not only is this the worst type of seclusion room you could have, but the child is hardly being observed, staff have given him the means to kill himself, and the person "observing" him isn't even trained and has no idea that this child is suicidal?
First off, train your staff. You're putting your hands on a kid and then isolating them; at the very least know when to do it and how to do it right.
Secondly, don't deny access to these rooms to not only reporters but also investigators such as psychiatric nurses. If there's something you don't want people to see, chances are, you shouldn't be doing it. And you probably know it.
Thirdly, inform parents. Yeah, it can be a hassle, but when you encroach on a person's liberty like that, his or her legal guardian has a (probably legal) right to know. Either because you're being a fucktard or, in the case where you've acted appropriately, so that they can get the child some help.
Fourth, do some actual research. Look at what seclusion and restraint do and how best to carry them out. Again, train your teachers on what to do during potentially violent situations and during a "take down". Prevention--it can also be immensely helpful.
But... honestly, this story (and the fact that the practice is so wide-spread in schools) makes sitting there and staring at the video monitor of the seclusion room, just wishing for the patient to stop screaming and fall asleep already, seem happy and fuzzy.
