You may have heard of the scream rooms issue if you pay attention to local news. The Middletown Press reported that they’re actually common in Connecticut schools (and beyond) [read more].
If you’re appalled by this and want to demand change, here’s an opportunity from Ariel Schwartz ’12:
In Middletown, some students disabled students have been placed in solitary “scream rooms” as a consequence for “misbehavior.” These rooms are unsupervised and utterly unsafe. So unsafe, that a child has died while in one of these rooms. This is a violation of human rights.
Parents of children in Middletown have started a petition calling for the removal of the Special Education Department, as they “have lost confidence in their ability to provide a nurturing environment that
ensures our special needs children are being educated in a safe, legal, and least restrictive environment.”
Wait, what’s the alternative proposed here? Calling for the dissolution of Special Ed Department seems a lot like throwing the baby out with the bath water.