As advocacy efforts have brought increased attention to the use of physical restraint and isolation in schools, research has increasingly shown that they are dangerous and are used disproportionately on black students.

In 2009, the National Disability Rights Network released a report documenting incidents of restraints and seclusion gone wrong that resulted in severe injuries and even killed some children. The report, called School Is Not Supposed To Hurt, revealed that there were no federal laws limiting the use of restraint or seclusion, few states had laws or policies, and the guidance from government that did exist was largely inadequate.

Largely in response to that report and the outcry it engendered, the Keeping All Students Safe Act was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to finally regulate restraint and seclusion, and the bill is currently under consideration. The bill allows physical restraints in only emergency situations, and it will completely ban certainly especially dangerous restraints using mechanical or chemical devices. It also requires parental notification and limits use of restraints to qualified personnel.

Please help stop the dangerous, discriminatory practice of restraining and isolating students by supporting the Keeping All Students Safe Act. Also, please contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to cosponsor the bill! Go to http://1.usa.gov/Senat to email your senators, and http://1.usa.gov/HouseWrit to contact your House representatives.