As an attorney practicing in the areas of education and discrimination, seclusion and restraint in schools are a particularly concerning problem. Data suggests that these tactics are often used in a discriminatory manner and negatively impact students’ legal right to access the educational environment. For these reasons, I have been searching for information on the direct impact of restraint and seclusion in K-12 education on postsecondary outcomes for students. This is an incredibly important question for those of us advocating for and counseling students who may be subjected to these practices, predominantly Black and/or disabled boys. According to the 2017-2018 Civil Rights Data Collection, students with disabilities make up approximately 13% of all public school students, but 80% of students who are subjected to physical restraint. We also know that Black students make up about 18% of the public school population but account for 34% of students who are subjected to mechanical restraints. Boys made up close to 85% of students who were restrained or secluded. As reported by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities, these same students are also much more likely to be referred to local law enforcement, handcuffed at school, and otherwise removed from their educational environment as a disciplinary measure.
So what does that tell us about the impact restraint and seclusion have on post-high school outcomes for the students who are most often restrained and secluded? I could not find any recent research that directly answers this question, but there is a plethora of research that gives us a really good idea. At a minimum, a school’s use of restraint or seclusion will have a negative impact on education. It may have a traumatic impact on a student, leading to new academic or behavioral difficulties, like an inability to concentrate, school refusal and increased absences, or mental health concerns like anxiety and depression. These negative educational consequences have been shown to influence student outcomes, including dropout and graduation rates. Additionally, according to a report issued by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, any disciplinary action that removes a student from the school building or the classroom, whether a result of restraint and seclusion or referral to law enforcement, increases the chance that a student will repeat a grade, drop out, or end up in the criminal justice system.
It stands to reason that higher rates of restraint and seclusion also correlate with higher dropout and lower graduation rates.
Advocates for the complete cessation of restraint and seclusion have argued that it is too often used to control behavior and mete out discipline rather than to keep students safe. Researchers have found that students identified as having behavioral disabilities in public school experience some of the poorest postsecondary outcomes of any group of students, with or without disabilities. In 2014, they were reported to have a 42% employment rate, as compared to the national average of 59% that year. Involvement with the criminal justice system is also higher than for those in other disability categories, which can derail educational, employment, and family life. Additional studies have found a correlation between behavioral discipline for young children in school and increases in adult crime. Again, one logical conclusion is that restraint and seclusion have a negative impact on postsecondary outcomes for students subjected to its use.
Adding to the difficulty in understanding the direct impact of restraint and seclusion on postsecondary outcomes is the fact that individual school districts, and in turn states, self-report their use of restraint and seclusion, and there is no effective monitoring to ensure the accuracy of reporting. In fact, underreporting is a recognized problem. Vagueness in state laws adds to the muddiness of these waters. For example, while at least one state defines physical restraint by the minimum number of minutes it must last, most states do not address how long a student must be immobilized before an event should be considered an incident of restraint. I happen to know of incidents where students were removed from their classrooms either by being pulled by their arms by two adults or lifted off their feet and carried out, but these events were not considered restraint by the school district and, therefore, were not reported.
It’s essential to get familiar with your state’s laws, as well as the reporting practices of individual school districts so that you can adequately counsel clients and advocate for students.
As a new AASR volunteer, I hope to effect changes in our schools that will drastically reduce the use of restraint, end the use of seclusion, and better serve all students.
