Action | Promulgating new regulation governing seclusion & restraint in public elementary & secondary schools |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 4/19/2019 |
Please hear the parents and professionals that are exclaiming to end restraint & seclusion. Let's have a 100% zero tolerance for forcing compliance on a child. Instead meet them with trauma-informed care. It's widely known you will not yield a healthy outcome if you physicalize compliance. These types of protocols have been proven to have negative consequences wiring children's responses to anxiety and stress -- only to perpetuate behavioral problems. Children lose trust in the adults tasked with educating and mentoring them. No one can learn under these circumstances. Please consider the extra training, staffing standards and support needed to keep teachers educated on trauma, learning disabilities and mental health first aid. These issues are only strengthening in the Commonwealth, and we need to respond with compassion and sincerity to meet the needs of all students in Virginia. “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults.” ~ F. Douglass