Scream Rooms in Connecticut Upset Parents
Te use of so-called ‘scream rooms’ has upset many parents in Connecticut, and leaders are investigating whether they should still be used.
Farm Hill Elementary School is at the core of the educational and psychological debate over the use of rooms meant to help calm children during tantrums or episodes. The rooms, which professionals call “restraint and seclusion” rooms and padded and cannot be locked; any student within the room must be fully supervised the entire time.
Parents, however, have told reporters that their children are afraid of being placed in the rooms. “If you start using a timeout room and other children are in the school, they are going to be traumatized. Parents are going to be traumatized," one mother told NBC Connecticut.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Right now in Connecticut, timeout rooms can only be used if they are part of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP); parents must be notified within 24 hours if their child is put into one.
Nancy Prescott of the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center has stated, “To ensure that all these things are in place requires continuous and ongoing training. Occasionally, it may not be in the IEP, and yet the staff does it. Or they may overuse it.”
Farm Hill’s Superintendent, Michael Frechette told reporters, “Concurrently, we have been putting together a comprehensive plan to actively address the issues at Farm Hill. Recently, we have formalized our action plan for Farm Hill, which will be articulated to the faculty and staff on Friday, Jan. 13.
Connecticut is not the only state facing opposition to the use of timeout rooms. In 2002, Minnesota parents complained heavily about schools’ use of the rooms. Sharon Nygren stated, “It’s inhumane. We don’t allow society to treat the elderly that way, or even animals. I couldn’t believe our schools did anything like that to our children.”
Proponents of the rooms state that they provide safety for teachers dealing with unruly children. “We have a critical need to balance safety and security for all students and staff with appropriate behavior intervention procedures,” said Lorie Schulstad-Werk, president of the Minnesota Administrators for Special Education.
