Episode 1 Seclusion Rooms

Seclusion rooms, also known as quiet rooms or isolation rooms, are used in schools for disabled children with behavioral issues. Some schools deny using them, while others claim it's a last resort. Children are being traumatized and desperate to get out, even defecating and urinating themselves. Lack of rules for special needs children allows for restraint and abuse. A 14-year-old died from suffocation after being pinned down in one of these rooms. Some parents are outraged, but others believe it's normal or don't want to look further. These practices can cause mental delays and harm. If we don't bring attention to this, worse things could happen to these children. Hey guys, I wanted to talk to you guys about seclusion rooms. So some people might know it as quiet rooms, isolation rooms, or some might not even know it at all. For the people who just are like, what is this? Seclusion rooms are typically used for disabled children. They are placed into these rooms for hours with the teacher watching outside. These rooms are typically filled with padded walls and are very small and dingy. So these are used for children who have typically behavioral issues and are special needs. Some schools deny using seclusion rooms while others say that they use it as a last resort. Nonetheless, kids are being traumatized and dragged into these rooms to the point where they're so desperate to get out that they defecate themselves and pee themselves when they're perfectly potty trained. Why I got into this was because for me, I used to be a kid with speaking problems. So I used to be in IEP. I was also struggling with math and other subjects as well. So I used to be pulled out quite frequently. And so I would see these children being dragged into these rooms and no one would even bat an eye or no one want to truly understand why this child is being so aggressive and being so desperate because they're wailing and crying and screaming, just begging not to be in these rooms. And people were just truly indifferent to it. It was not that they believed it was normal in my opinion, but it's more that they didn't want to bring attention to it because they're just special ed and they just wanted to say that it was normal, right? The thing is, this is not the only thing that they do to kids who are special needs. Seclusion rooms are just, for me, the biggest issue. With the lack of rules for special needs children, people are allowed to truly restrain and abuse them. For a 14-year-old who was flailing his arms and whistling, as it was probably a nervous tic or something of that sort, he was pinned down with his face held to the floor where he then there died from suffocation. And this shows the lack of regulation of rules in the school system, with seclusion rooms as being an addition to that. These seclusion rooms are the thing. These kids are being put into these seclusion rooms every now and again, maybe every other week. These kids are being put in these seclusion rooms mostly every day, for hours at a time. Where one parent even documented that their kid has been put in seclusion rooms so many times in the past year that they got over 400 letters. As once a kid is in the seclusion room, they write these letters to these parents and they even write down what the kid has been doing in these seclusion rooms. These parents don't really even care about even talking about and bring this to attention because they just believe that it's right or they don't want to look any further. But some parents do. And the parents that do are truly outraged and astonished by what they're doing to these children. As it's causing mental delays and all these things to these children that can't speak for themselves. So they need a voice just because they can't have one themselves. And that is why I wanted to bring attention to these situations. Because these kids who have behavioral problems, such as the 14-year-old child was whistling and flailing his arms, probably has enough mental capacity to be able to communicate in one way or another that's not verbal. There's a way to compromise. And if you can't just go out and have a conversation or something like that with that child, then you can go out and redirect their behavior. It doesn't need to cause them to be treated like a mental patient, locked into these rooms and documented every aspect of what they're doing because they're desperate and wailing to get out. And they don't need to be held like they're in police custody and being pinned to the floor for how long. It is idiotic and just truly harmful. It's still documented that these practices are in use. And this is just a horrific event. And if we don't bring attention to this, and if we continue to ignore these events that are happening, it can lead to worse things happening for these children. With these events not working at all, if kids are being put in seclusion rooms for over 400 times within a year, then these are not working. And it can lead to more extensive abusive practices being put for these disabled children with no one being there to help. Thank you guys for listening.