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Alternative schools offer unconventional approach for students with behavior problems

Alicia Wilpur, 17, of Windham, a student at The Real School in Falmouth, is part of a group of students who prepare lunch for dozens of students and staff members at the Real School and the Gov. Baxter School for the Deaf in Falmouth. Looking on is Della Parker, a Portland restaurant owner and volunteer at The Real School. Buy Photo

By Christopher Cousins, BDN Staff

Posted Oct. 30, 2011, at 11:04 a.m.
Last modified Oct. 31, 2011, at 5:49 p.m.

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Christopher Cousins | BDN

Christina York, 16, of Portland, a student at The Real School in Falmouth, concentrates on a sewing task on Tuesday, October 11, 2011, at the school. Buy Photo

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Pender Makin, director of The Real School in Falmouth, describes how the school deals with behavior problems to a group of University of Southern Maine graduate students on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. Behind her is a poster that shows the school's color-coded system of how a student is expected to deal with his or her own behavior. Buy Photo

Christopher Cousins | BDN

Adam Flaherty, 16, of Portland, a student at The Real School in Falmouth, stepped into the world of sewing on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 in order to construct a protective bag for an iPad which the school has distributed to its students. Buy Photo

‘I’m a cook’

Alex Bouchie, 16, of South Portland is part of a program where students produce lunch for everyone on Mackworth Island, which includes The Real School and the Gov. Baxter School for the Deaf. Bouchie said his problems started when he was being bullied and intensified when he “took care of” the bully with his fists. He subsequently was expelled.

“The school system sort of had a problem with me,” said Bouchie while taking a break from erecting a greenhouse where some of the lunch program’s food will be grown. “Here I take responsibility for my own actions. The teachers here aren’t looking to get you into trouble. They’re looking more for stuff students do right.”

A major revelation for Bouchie was gaining an understanding about issues that lie at the core of his difficulties. Preparing lunch for dozens of people every day combines the pressure of a deadline with a necessity for teamwork. The focus on the end goal amounts to therapy within the process, even if the students don’t know it, said Martin Mackey, the school’s vice principal.

“I’m not very good at socializing with people my own age,” said Bouchie. “This place has been great for my social skills.”

Asked by some of the USM students what he’s studying, Bouchie’s answer was simple and much different than it may have been at one of his previous schools: “I’m a cook.”

During a recent geography class, the teacher struggled to hold the attention of four of the five students. Though one girl answered most of the questions, the teacher went back to the other students but didn’t push it when they obviously weren’t engaged. Patience, perseverance and remaining nonconfrontational are at the core of The Real School’s philosophy, even though some students appear to have little interest for learning and questionable respect for their superiors.

“Our primary focus is reframing students’ perspectives about school,” said Mackey. “We empower them to make good decisions.”

Developing relationships

Though there is a points-based discipline system and clearly defined standards students are required to reach in academics and attendance, for the most part each student is part of defining and developing his or her own education program and goals. The factor that leads to success for many students is showing them that someone cares.

“Each kid here has a solid connection with at least one adult,” said Mackey.

Gunn, whose Old Town facility serves 45 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, said staff members use a variety of methods to help students peacefully through their days — and creating personal connections with them is a key part of it. She said in general, students who have to be restrained or secluded improve over time, but it’s because of other methods.

“If the student picks up a chair and he’s going to throw it at me and there’s nothing else we can do, we’re going to have to put our hands on him,” she said. “We emphasize teaching them de-escalation, how not to get there.”

Even though measures are taken to avoid restraint and seclusions, Gunn said for some students it later turns into a teachable moment. Part of the process after the incident is debriefing with the student.

“We ask them ‘How did you get here?’ ‘What patterns are here?’ ‘What might we do differently next time?’” said Gunn. “That’s the real learning phase. It’s like going to the doctor. First you’ve got to find out what’s wrong to know what medication to use.”

Gunn has been an educator for nearly 30 years and has spent the past 15 years in her current position. She said it takes a special breed of teacher to work with students who have such profound problems, but emphasized that students at her school receive as much respect as any others.

“You have to like these kids,” said Gunn. “There are people who don’t like these kids and that’s too bad because you haven’t spent the time to develop a relationship. All of us here still like to get up in the morning and come to work.”

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Anonymous

Touchy subject but teacher should have the right to defend the students and themselves. Then try to find out what is going on.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

This article describes the correct way to work with children with behavioral issues.
StillRelaxin

From my 22 years in the business of education plus five more in residential treatment for just such students I think I can safely say that no educator in any school ever WANTS to restrain any student unless it’s necessary. No one wants to hurt a child or put themselves in a situation where they themselves might be harmed by violence.

I also want to disagree with Mrs. Gunn’s assertion that “There are people who don’t like these kids.” Here she makes the same mistake that these kids frequently make, it isn’t YOU that people don’t like, it’s your exhibited BEHAVIORS that threatens the rest of us that we don’t like. We like you just fine, but when you threaten yourself, others and us, we tend to get a might bit uptight because our jobs and moral duty requires us to take action to protect EVERYONE.

This is the second such story on this subject in as many days. Cleary someone with influence wants to bring this non-story to the forefront for some undisclosed reason. My guess, it’s controversial and there is a ground swell of anger about education in general these days (Thanks in large part to our current crop of new wave political brainiacs). Therefore any story that cast schools in a negative light will likely sell more papers and advertising space.

Finally, I’m glad someone has found the money to provide some of these children more “Solid connections with at least one adult” in alternative educational programs outside of the public school system. Did anyone else notice that there is NO mention of how much all this attention COST? If we did the same in our public schools I’m sure this discussion would not be taking place. Are we willing to pay for such assistance? Apparrently not, but in reality and in the end we are anyways.
Anonymous

I don’t understand why you say it is a “non-story”. Clearly it has effected you negatively. It is about doing something different to help these children. It is about finding a new path. Because the old one isn’t working. You can’t put a price on improving the mental health of a child vs. the negative effects that the holding method can have.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=negative+effects+of+therapeutic+holding+restraint&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
Anonymous

Here’s a thought BDN…Why not have some of these crackerjack reporters of yours apply for substitute teacher or ed tech positions…do that for a few weeks or months…and then maybe they can have a reality check when they report on these “shocking” incidents.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

It’s more that no educator wants to have to deal with behavioral problems…not that they don’t want to restrain a child. The real problem is that educators (like most people in general) choose to take the easiest and quickest option rather than taking the best option. Teachers are not these super human beings with halos and wings. They are human. They are prone to frustration, getting annoyed, becoming angry, lacking patience, etc…just like most of society. I honestly get so sick of the unrealistic and inaccurate attitude that teachers are never in the wrong. There is almost never a situation that can’t be resolved without the use of restraints or prevented in the first place.
ladybaroque

Wow, I so agree with you. Many times restraint is to help the child to not hurt themselves or others. Many of these children do not have the tools for personal control and are able to hurt themselves or others. I have also worked with such children. Of course, educators and professionals have to restrain a child in a way that is careful and procedural.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

Gunn did a good job of describing when and why a restraint is used. Restraint is always a last resort.
ladybaroque

Yes, you are right. If you have a child who is kicking, punching, biting or hitting other children or the staff, the immediate thing to do is to restrain until the behavior is over and then find out why the child is hurting so.
ladybaroque

That’s true, uncledrinky. One never knows what it’s like until you have a job like the ones you mentioned, working with children with behavioral issues. I have worked with these kids and I know what can happen. I have gotten kicked and bitten more times that I want to recount.
StillRelaxin

But we have put a price on it just as we’ve put a price on education in general. In case you haven’t been following what folks have been saying lately, they believe we are spending too much on education and they have been doing everything possible to cut educational funding. Lose funding, lose services and “Paths” we can go down to help students. We’ll soon be seeing the same in many other public services that we’ve always taken for granted.

I’m all for doing something different. I’m all for spending whatever is necessary. There is no reason such alternative paths couldn’t be provided within our public schools but only if we are prepared to pay for it as you really are doing (Probably double or triple the cost) in these alternative schools anyways. What I’m not prepared to do is jump on a bandwagon with folks who want nothing more than to tear down our our public schools or those who work in them.
Anonymous

Why is the “unconventional approach” only for kids with behavioral problems? Maybe if there were more options in the school system to begin with there would be less damage control to do when kids fall through the cracks.
StillRelaxin

“There is almost never a situation that can’t be resolved without the use of restraints or prevented in the first place.” I couldn’t disagree with you more. My guess is that you have very little experience with people across a wide behavioral spectrum who are prone to violent behavior. If it were as easy as you say then no one would ever punch (Or do physical harm of any kind) to anyone else again and there would only be “Thoughts” of suicide (Because some caring person would head it off even before the attempt). We know that isn’t true. People are often unpredictable. When they behave violently there is only one reasonable response.

By saying teachers choose the easiest option are you actually saying they restrain kids in a variety of behavioral situations unrelated to violent outburst by students? If so, for the reasons I’ve noted in my comment above, I again totally disagree with you. In general, no teacher is going to touch a student unless it’s deemed to be the option of last resort to prevent injury of all parties involved. All teachers or “Support Staff/Aids” are trained to deal with students who have special needs and I’m pretty sure their training doesn’t involve learning to use the physical restraint option first because it’s easy. Could they be trained better, sure. Could we employ more staff to look after each child’s needs and to head off all possible environmental triggers that might set students off into violence, sure. We do it as best we can now. Could we do better, sure. Better is always possibe. Can we afford it? No, but we can’t afford not to either.
Anonymous

What about the common unrealistic and inaccurate attitude that a child can never be wrong or be a behavior problem … ?? Parents exemplify that every day! “Not MY child!!”
Anonymous

Or maybe I should say less cracks for the kids to fall through.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Your guess would be quite wrong. I have experience with: Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Paranoid Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Autism, Sexual Predator, BiPolar, Addiction (including active use), dementia, sociopaths, psychopaths, people who are psychotic, acting out violently, making threats, etc. Frankly, there’s not much I haven’t seen. Again…in my 45 years I have NEVER had to resort to physical restraints. I stand by what I said…there is almost never a situation where physical restraints cannot be avoided.
Anonymous

Yes, Ms. Gunn described it all very well.

I’m just fearful that people won’t read this article carefully enough and go away with the idea that restraints can be eliminated completely.

It’s wonderful to be able to “build connections” with students before a crisis can start as well as properly process and discuss the situation after a stressful event. Specialists quoted in this article make it sound like all this open communication, bridge and connection building with high needs students is new and novel treatment stuff.

Gosh, I hope it’s not news to special ed. educators.

We do all that stuff at our special ed. school here in MA and we’ve cut restraints by quite a bit, but the idea that restraints can be eliminated totally is folly.

Some kids *will* throw the chair no matter all the pre-processing and therapy that has taken place before hand.. Some kids *will* start smashing their head against a wall, *hard*, because only through that physical pain can they get the pain of watching Dad beat Mom up last night out of their head.

In those times, (especially the very violent self-injury situations) you *will* do a restraint and you won’t hesitate in the slightest because no matter how much verbal intervention you try at that moment, the kid won’t be able to hear you, no matter how much you kid yourself about it right now reading this. Of COURSE no restraint is truly “therapeutic”, but in some instances, it might let the kid survive the day, without serious head injury, so (s)he can live to meet in therapy with the clinician tomorrow.

Here’s another thing too that uncledrinky also suggested: Whenever people start criticizing the job people in my line of work do (work in special ed./alternative schools with populations of kids prone to violence), I point out that our administrative assistant has a more than ample supply of job applications for the entry level positions and that if they think they can do better, by all means is our door open to them. Then they too can see if they have what it takes to instantly turn around a kid and stop him from acting out on some violence himself one tough morning in school after that kid was up all night due to a drunken/drugged boyfriend of Mom’s beating her while they, the kid, hid under the bed in terror.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

That happens sometimes as well…and more often than not it is because schools tend to always place ALL the blame for bad situations on the kids. It shouldn’t be that way. In most cases the school staff has actually behaved in a way that contributed to the escalation of the situation. In most cases it’s six to one and half a dozen to the other.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Kids don’t usually just fly out of the gate kicking, punching, biting or hitting. A situation escalates to that point due to mismanagement of a situation by the adult in charge.
Anonymous

As another person who works in residential treatment here in MA, thank you so much StillRelaxin for speaking up.

I too have been wondering what the agenda is behind this very “anti” story series in the BDN

NOBODY wants to restrain a child. I hate restraints. I sometimes am left shaking a bit after one and mercifully, I haven’t done one in a few months (though I’ve seen 2 in just the past 2 weeks.)

Folks, it’s all about saving a child and/or bystanders serious injury in the moment. With certain populations of kids (which even within my program ebb and flow as the months go by), some kids, no matter how well one tries preemptive therapy, sometimes the kid has a lapse/relapse of thinking and a breakdown of coping skills. Keeping him/her safe *in the moment* gives the client a chance to live and recover enough to examine the situation and try better tomorrow and during the days after that.

This story series is nothing more than an emotional witch hunt being sold to a general public that doesn’t know any better.

If people want the real story, go work or volunteer at your nearest residential treatment center that works with these kinds of kids. My guess is that both the kids there and the staff will greatly welcome your help and then you yourself can see what this is really all about and if you can do better.
Anonymous

I have seen educators provoke kids into getting upset so they can restrain them to “teach them a lesson”. Granted, it’s not the majority, but it happens. Some teachers fear losing control over the rest of the class if they are perceived as “soft”. It is also a reality that not everybody likes everyone else. As teachers, we owe it to the students and ourselves to put personal feelings aside and act in the best interest of the child. Not all teachers are successful at doing this. In addition, children who are less likeable are receiving negative feedback from their peers, possibly family members and probably have been for a long time. As educators, we need to teach them how to believe in themselves.

We have to start somewhere with these kids and teaching them to be responsible for their own behavior is better accomplished with a hands-off approach. It means a greater investment in teaching those skills upfront but it has a much more lasting effect. However, even in programs with a hands-off philosophy, it may be necessary to restrain someone if immenent danger is present.

There are many students who do not learn from a traditional textbook approach. The science curriculum we adopted this year includes a more traditional approach, a hands-on approach and a technology approach all to teach the same information. It makes it easier to match the content to the child’s learning style and interest. However, some kids require real-life hands-on situations so they can learn the skills as they apply to a career.

In our district in Florida, we have a public high school with different career tracks. It encompasses everything from culinary arts and veterinary science to carpentry and electronics. It has been an “A” school every year it has existed because the kids make great progress. Straight out of high school, some of these students are able to make $60, 000 a year with the practical skills they have learned. It has been such a successful program that some of the other middle and high school are putting career tracks in their schools. A couple of the high schools in our district have begun aviation programs complete with fligh simulators. Expensive? Yes, but it is less expensive than supporting these future adults on welfare or in prison.

And by the way, if it was your child being restrained or thrown in seclusion, I don’t believe you would feel these two articles were “non-stories.”
Anonymous

The problem is that not enough effort is being made to teach students how to become responsible for their own behavior and/or to teach teachers how to recognize and deal with problems before they hit the need for restraint.
Anonymous

Of course educators make mistakes in all types of schools and treatment centers for behaviorally-challenged kids are no different. At my agency we spend a lot of time in TCI (Therapeutic Crisis Intervention – one crisis training curriculum developed at Cornell University in widespread use by treatment centers) training examining the staffs’ emotions and responses to potential triggering situations and crisis events. We spend a whole week learning this as new staff along with a whole day of retraining every 180 days.

You’ve been posting on this story series for two days, making it sound like the majority of these crisis events are the result of educator failures. Now if you think that, I’m assuming you must think you can do better. If the latter is the case, I suggest you go get an application at your nearest special ed./treatment center, join the staff there, and show everybody else how it is done and/or open your own special ed. school/treatment center.

Our industry is ALWAYS open to ideas that reduce the cycle of violence and the crises that can result.
Anonymous

In our district in Florida, we have a high school with career tracks for culinary arts, veterinary science, carpentry, criminal justice, electronics, auto mechanics, electricity, computers, health sciences and auto body repair, to name a few. Since it has been so successful, other high schools and middle schools are starting to put career tracks in their schools. The high school near my house has an aviation program complete with a flight simulator. Can you think of a more efficient way to teach math and science to a kid who is interested in aviation? I think not. Perhaps if more districts invested the money into offering the programs before the kids become a problem, we would avoid many of the problems.
StillRelaxin

All very hard to believe. Even Jesus eventually had to suffer from the social sicknesses of others. Now THERE was a nice guy! I’m also guessing you ain’t Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever been the cause of a violent outburst but in the process of stopping one between students/clients I have been bitten, kicked, punched, scratched, and spat upon. If what you claim here is true, you should surely count your blessings for you have lived a very charmed, almost magical life.
Anonymous

these kids can or soon can vote. all i see and hear is the blame game from these kids. no wonder this is a different world . no one wants to take responsibility. one of these days kids you will be on your own and cant blame anyone anymore.
Anonymous

Hear! Hear!

To me it’s obvious you’ve spent some time in this business, probably even more than yours truly.

Very well said!
Anonymous

Really?

Even when confronted with a 15 yo kid as I was 5 years ago who was repeatedly smashing his head against a wall, crying and screaming that he hated his life? Then when I held his head, he jammed his wrist in his mouth and bit down HARD? Then, as I held that hand, he went back to smashing his head against the wall again, H A R D? (Words cannot depict how hard this kid attacked himself. Mentally healthy people cannot imagine it if they haven’t seen it.)

You’d just talk to him, as he proceeded to give himself a possibly life-threatening head injury or laceration?

I’ve been witness to several such, violent, self-injury situations and if you haven’t, then you aren’t working with the highly acute mental illnesses that my facility and I work with.

This particular kid had a series of family break downs and he came to us this way. Over the first few days he was a total mess. There was little time for any preprocessing or therapy on our part to show enough results to keep him from harming himself. If you do something in your work so that such a kid never acts out before your work has had time to work its magic, we’d all be very interested to hear more. As it was, the restraint I did after I realized I couldn’t otherwise hold his head and arms safely at the same time undoubtedly kept T from very serious, perhaps long-term injury at that very difficult time. It was all I could do at the time to properly execute that restraint (another staff came to assist) as I cried along side T, trying not to vomit myself after I had seen the velocity with which he had been banging his head.

He went on to a much happier future, returning to his family and he and I have remained in casual contact since then.

I assure you I get nothing out of him but the biggest smile you can imagine.
Anonymous

Yes, as you say “USUALLY” they don’t just fly out of the gate….

You didn’t say NEVER.

Sometimes it’s what happened at their home in the hours before they come into your care, that is the focus of their despair. Then the mere act of walking through the door of your facility and/or the comment from another client that provides the trigger and opportunity to act out.

Lastly, sometimes it is another client that says something “not helpful” as we say. In your comments here, you are so focused on the attending adults, and fixing blame on them. But unless your facility only takes in one kid at a time, or keeps them totally secluded from each other (as you’ve said you don’t do, nor should you), then sooner or later one kid will set another off, perhaps violently. Sometimes clients will fight. How are you going to break it up?

Don’t tell me none of these things ever happen in your work because if they don’t, then again I say, you simply don’t have the highly acute level of client needs and illnesses that the rest of us are talking about here.
StillRelaxin

You say, “I have seen educators provoke kids into getting upset so they can restrain them to “teach them a lesson.” Granted, it’s not the majority, but it happens.”

I have to ask the obvious question which you failed to mention and which should have come to the forefront of everyone’s mind reading your comment. Did you report this abuse? If not why? If so what happened?

Again, you like others here promote the “Hands off approach” as if it’s some new kind of thinking. I’ve never seen any educator do anything like what you suggest above (Provoking violence so they can commit violence, WOW! Now there‘s a claim.). Everyone has always been and will continue to work under a hands off approach. However when the stabbing, kicking, biting, punching, and suicide attempts start, for everyone’s safety lets hope someone is available to restrain these kids/patients before they injure themselves or others.
Anonymous

So let me get this straight. The kid was not hurting another kid. The kid was not hurting you until you put yourself in the scene. I fail to see why there was a need for you to inject yourself into the scenerio? Your forceful attempt at restraining him obviously did nothing to stop the behavior… ?? Most if not all schools in this country have a zero tolerance for bullying, violence etc. It doesn’t say zero tolerance for students and 100% tolerance for teachers and staff.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I can guarantee you that there were warning signs that the boy you mention was escalating. That kind of behavior doesn’t just come out of nowhere. That is the point I am attempting to stress…PREVENTION of situations escalating to this point. People with personality disorders are extremely difficult for most people to work with. Most people become very irritated with that population and as a result they have bias and lack the patience necessary to avoid a crisis situation. I didn’t say that there are never times when restraint is the best option. I am saying that they happen WAY more than necessary because of laziness, frustration and the adult either being triggered, reacting badly and not maintaining a calm presence or just disliking the kid.
Yes, I have dealt with people who harm themselves, cutting mostly. If you react to someone injuring themselves by freaking out it only fuels the crisis and upsets the person even more. Kids that self-injure are looking for acceptance and reassurance and for someone they can’t self-sabotage out of their lives by scaring them off. Before a kid will self injure they usually have sent cues that they are seeking out acceptance and approval and much needed one on one attention. These are not always verbal cues. Just because a kid doesn’t verbally tell you they are having a rough time it doesn’t mean they aren’t communicating it to you. Non-verbal communication says so much more most of the time.

It all comes back to the same thing…prevention.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I haven’t had any of those things happen because I stay engaged enough to be able to spot when someone is having a bad time. Then I make the effort to approach them and ask them how they are doing, give some one on one time and re-direct them towards finding solutions to what they are struggling with. If you are proactive and pay attention you can prevent things from escalating to the point of violence.
StillRelaxin

If my child was threatening their own safety or the safety of others through violent behavior why would I not want them restrained or placed in an area where they would be safe from themselves or from harming others? Your stance here appears to be based solely on emotion and thus lacks any measure of reason or logic.

Tell me, if you saw a man beating on an old lady with a bat in the street would you stop them? How, by talking to them? Until someone creates a Star Trek type phaser that can be set to “Happy Place” rather than stun (Which could be closely duplicated now with stun guns) the most humane response to violence in schools or out on the street will always require the use of physical restraint by others. Those who don’t believe this are either living in a false reality or have an axe to grind against the one that they know exist.
StillRelaxin

That sounds exactly like something in one of my old dusty Psychology textbooks. And like most teachers you do all that with 20+ students/clients at a time, five days a week, for 45 years and haven’t ever seen a student/client go berserk on themselves, others, or you? You are truly amazing! You should share your secrets (Not the obvious textbook stuff you’ve shared so far) with others. Just think of the pain and suffering you could alleviate for everyone across the globe. I’m sure if you can teach everyone to have even half your success there will be a well deserved Nobel Prize in it for you. Good luck. Really! We’d all love to live in your world.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

That is pretty unbelievable. It would be fabulous if the signs of a student escalating where always clear and if de-escalation worked in every situation, but sometimes it just isn’t enough to stop violent behavior. At that point you have to think about SAFETY.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

Please do everyone else would love some fail-proof methods!
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Yes, I think escalation into crisis situations are often due to the staff handling situations in the wrong way, and often because instead of getting to know the person they just read the file and make assumptions. Why do I say that? Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes in the field.

As for crisis training…one week is not enough if you are working with the population you describe, not to be truly effective. That might explain why you are doing so many physical restraints. So far I have taken 7 full college courses that cover child development, children and families, behavior, adolescents, mental health, disabilities and crisis intervention. There is still a lot more I could learn about working with children, too.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I’ve seen children and adults be provoked as well. People who work in mental health/special needs have a really high burn out rate. I’m quite surprised that people are so reluctant to acknowledge this and the impact it has on issues such as the one being discussed.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I agree! The students are expected to be responsible but are not shown how to be…and it’s not helpful when so many adults model the exact opposite of what they expect of the students. For me I think it’s really pretty easy to spot a situation that is escalating in time to turn things around, at least in most cases. This concept seems to be foreign to a lot of people for some reason. I think it really has to be lack of adequate training and knowledge. It’s either that or there are a lot of people who are just mean spirited and I’d rather believe it’s not intentional.
Anonymous

Of course there were warning signs. That’s why he came to us in the first place and yet late in the day as he did. But when he did come to us, it was kind of like getting a 12 hour notice of a hurricane over your short wave, when you are 500 miles out of port on a fishing trawler.

It’s too late to do anything else that matters except adjust the bilge pumps and double check the hatches, then point your bow into the waves (or whatever it is that ship captains do in such horrible circumstances.)

You live in a dream world if you are saying you always have to time avoid the blowup.

I say your 100 percent effective prevention boast is BS and like StillRelaxin down thread, it sounds like you’re reading out of a text book on all this.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Yes, you suggested that I go get an application. Since I’m simultaneously working on my 3rd and 4th college degrees right now I would not be offered an entry level position. In fact, I would most likely be hired as your boss. :)
Anonymous

Not always.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

The personal attacks are not only immature, but offer nothing productive to the discussion. Just based on how you are reacting to me disagreeing with you leads me to believe that you lack the adequate skills and temperament to be able to deal with behaviorally challenged kids in a rational and calm manner.
Anonymous

I knew you were going to question the one week.

Of course that specific restraint and crisis training is in addition to years of general clinical course work, psychology, etc. and interning.

You say you’ve taken a full seven courses on this stuff….but elsewhere in this thread you say you have 45 YEARS of experience.

I detect some inconsistencies with your story.

I’m done on this discussion today I guess.

You’re getting silly.
StillRelaxin

Same questions to you. Did you report this abuse? If not why? If so what happened? Those should be easy questions to answer.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Perhaps if you spent more time actually applying the methods discussed in your text books (they are taught because they actually WORK) then you might not have to resort to violence.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

In my school I was told to restrain children for not sitting in their seats. I hate it. It is ridiculous and often a game for hte younger ones. Schools have taken away everything that is good for kids and replaced it with NCLB which is leaving them all behind. We have smart boards and computers but the kids cant balance a checkbook, understand sales tax, or fix or cook anything. The kids that do not succeed academically who are so talented in other ways have no pride because their school doesnt allow them to have the programs to show what they are good at.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

Again, go pick up that application, for any position, or share your secrets with the world.
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We didnt have restraints 20 years ago. We held people to a higher set of standards and they met those. I work with these kids in theses programs and I think that restraints are ridiculous in a public school system. If they want to leave show em the door if they want to fight show em the door and when the cops come because they arent in school and arrest or fine the parents then maybe the doctors will stop drugging the kids and giving crap diagnosis when the parents just arent doing their jobs…..lets go old school.
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BS there are plenty of people who get a kick out of restraining these kids. It gives the adult power and control.
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Thank you my point exactly!!!!!! I have seen it so many times.
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Every kid I have ever seen restrained has been on more drugs than my grandma.
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The roblem is also that we keep lowering our standards to make everyone feel good. They wont work..give welfare. They do drugs….give em free drugs. They dont want to goto school or behave give em a diagnosis and some drugs and let them beat the hell out of teachers.
Anonymous

The thing is, you are applying absolutes to a field of study and treatment where there is no such thing.

That right there tells me something doesn’t add up with your story and solutions.

Have a good night.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

EXACTLY!!!!!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

Escalation deescalation why do we give it names. Why not look at it like this, 20 years ago this wasnt allowed period. Kids are given drugs and diagnosis to make excuses for screwed up lives and screwed up parents. Many of us grew up in screwed up homes and we are ok because it was expected that we act ok.
StillRelaxin

Same question to you. If you are aware that there are “plenty of people getting pleasure out of restraining kids,” have you reported this abuse? If not, why? If so what happened? Or are you just blowing smoke?
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

It actually is far easier to spot than you might think….IF you make the effort to get to know the person beyond what is written in their files. Heck, that is part of building the therapeutic relationship and trust and that is THE most important thing when you are trying to help others. It’s so easy to do, too. If a kid sees that you are interested in what they think, how they feel, what their story is and that you actually see them as a human being and not some case number they are not likely to direct any violence towards you.
StillRelaxin

Ok, if you’re not willing to share your secrets then there’s not much sense continuing this conversation. I’ve now determined that you’re certainly full of “Something,” maybe even overflowing with niceness, but you clearly have little or nothing of use to offer relating to this difficult to deal with subject. Good luck.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Twice I have reported abusive teachers. Each time the school district protected them due to them being tenured. I also reported the provoking and irresponsible/inappropriate handling of situations to the head of the facility(adult facility). The outcome was that relevant training was set up and made mandatory to all staff in an effort to fix the problem. I’m not sure if anything else was done. There have been quite a few times where I saw things heading south fast where I intervened and de-escalated things to prevent a crisis.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

You’re comparing apples to oranges. You can’t compare someone harming themselves with someone committing a crime against a little old lady. It’s not the same thing. People who self injure EXPECT you to freak out and try to restrain them. When you automatically go in that direction you are just rewarding and reinforcing that behavior. Sure, sometimes someone will really do severe damage to themselves and then you have to do whatever you must to stop them. However, if the damage is superficial and not life threatening sometimes it’s best to use other methods.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

If you were told to restrain a kid for not sitting in there seats then it is time to find a new job and then complain. I agree with you that kids/people have so many more talents then are recognized in schools, or on paper and pencil tests.
Anonymous

Exactly! Who are they going to blame when they get caught for something as “innocent” as speeding. “Sorry officer, I was speeding because xzy made me.” Even better, who are they going to blame when they act out of control and break serious laws in society such as possession of drugs, breaking and entering, assault, etc.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I said “in my 45 years,” meaning that is my age. I first worked in the field in 1986, maybe 1985. I worked for many years before going to college, as many people do. I had many years of experience under my belt before picking up any textbooks. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy for me to actually apply those things taught there.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

I already work in the field, thanks.
StillRelaxin

Now your parsing my comments to fit your narrative. Why fixate here on self-harm? I haven’t. Of course that’s not the same thing as attacking another human being. It is however one of the several good reasons to restrain someone.

Of course some kids/people expect you to freak out when they take violently action, because for them that’s their way of having control and receiving attention. No one here has said they should be pounce upon when they do so for such manipulative purposes. In most circumstances I think most people in public schools, alternative schools, and other “Institutions” utilize common sense when deciding on when “Sometime” has risen to the level of becoming restraint time.

Those “Sometimes” you speak of are the times I’ve been talking about. You are most fortunate considering the cliental you claim to work with to have never been (As you claimed earlier) involved in one of those “Sometimes.”
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

“you simply don’t have the highly acute level of client needs and illnesses that the rest of us are talking about here.”

The population I work with are actually far more challenging than children with behavioral problems. You’d be scared to death by some of the people I’ve worked with.
http://twitter.com/nippydog777 errgh

While working on your 3rd and 4th degree and parenting a child with O.D.D.? And you run a program???????? You seem to know the same, or one of, the techniques that everyone else knows and not be able to offer anything new.This technique of course works in every situation the rest of us have evil intentions and/or can’t seem to make it work. It is becoming more and more unbelievable. Nighty, night.
Anonymous

There are 45 students at the Real School; that may be a fact, but you’ve not given us a lot more facts that put their allegedly wonderful program into some perspective: How many students have applied? What’s their entrance standard? How many students have been rejected? How many expelled (or whatever word they use)? What’s their budget? What’s their staff turnover? What happens to the kids who don’t succeed there (either)? What would be the cost of expanding this sort of program statewide? Should this sort of program be instituted for ALL students and at what cost?

Ms. Makin recently wrote at the Department of Education website “The professionally courageous educators at The REAL School appreciate the DOE’s support as we continue to take innovative risks and reinvent education!” So, educators in schools across Maine who do not use the REAL school model are what? Professional cowards? Come on; managing 45 high school age kids with who-knows-how-many staff when you don’t expect them to pay attention isn’t innovative or reinventive.
Anonymous

I agree some people are nothing but control freaks. They think having a title gives them the right to treat a child any way they want. Well, I can see right through these fake,I’m in charge type.I say never let your guard down and protect your child. I grew up with a loving father that told me no one has the right to put their hands on you and he made sure no one did. We can’t just stand by and let others tell us that restraint is a last resort. I’m not buying that . If we can’t protect our own children what do we stand for ? Parents need to rally together to put an end to restraint once and for all.
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TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

The self-harm example has been pretty consistently used throughout this discussion, so of course that is what I’m going to refer to.

Here is where the point of contention is with this whole debate…those who use physical restraints are taking offense and being defensive when others are saying that they are used more than they need to be used. I don’t recall seeing anyone say they NEVER have to be used. I haven’t said that at all. What I have been saying is that they should ALMOST never have to be used IF adequate training and techniques are employed.

You have worked with children with behavioral problems, as have I. Well, try living with and raising four kids as a single parent with one of those kids having Oppositional Defiant Disorder. I have experience not only working in the field but also as a parent. My child was diagnosed at 9 years old after being placed in a class with an extremely abusive teacher. He didn’t have any of the symptoms prior to this point. It took a lot of patience and hard work, but before his 16th birthday he no longer fit the criteria for ODD. You always hear about it getting worse, but how often does it get better, and with NO criminal history to boot. Now he is a successful adult who is self employed and is absolutely brilliant. In 7 years of living with this child every day I never had to restrain him even once. Back in the 80′s I was trained in ACT (Aggression Control Techniques) for my job and never once did I use it. I never needed to. I simply always treat those I work with the way I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes.

The reason I’ve been so “fortunate” is because I am extremely good with people who are extremely difficult and I’m probably the most patient person you would ever meet. Not everyone is cut out for work with very difficult people. They might have a strong desire to help and make a difference, but some populations are a lot of work and require far more patience than most people can muster. If you genuinely LOVE working with this population then you are naturally going to be more tuned in and aware of what each person’s baseline is, and what is normal for them. Knowing that baseline is important because it helps spot when someone is a bit off and needs to be watched closely and checked in with. You can’t just show up and be there physically and have your mind on where you want to go on your next vacation or what you want to do on the weekend. You have to be there fully. Those people receiving your services KNOW when you show up completely and for the right reasons and can tell when you are only there to collect a pay check. There is a drastic difference in how those people will respond to staff based on these things.

How often do you greet your clients/students with a big smile, ask them how their day was and genuinely want to hear their answer? How often do you talk with them the same way you would talk to any other person and make small talk? I would spend the entire day doing that if I could.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Parents also need to do their part. Any child who has behavioral issues should have a plan in place in the event a crisis occur. The child NEEDS to be a part of that plan and then everyone needs to be consistent. Even a pretty young child can be taught to identify the physical and emotional cues that they are getting ready to blow. Teaching them to communicate that something is up early on is a good tool to use…and teachers need to learn to pick up on the physical signs…clenched fists, clenched teeth, sweating, etc.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

The child I mentioned who had ODD is an adult now. Yes, I have a job. Yes I am working on my 3rd and 4th degree. People actually work and pursue degrees at the same time in this day and age. I’m not sure where you came up with the “run a program” thing since I never said that. I said that I would not be hired for an entry level position.

I certainly hope you don’t get this frustrated with the children you work with. If you are reacting so defensively with me I can only imagine how badly a kid with a conduct disorder would push your buttons.
Anonymous

Found the money? Where do you suppose that money comes from? How about if parents have to prove that they are fit parents before they are allowed to breed and unleash their offspring on society? We have to take a test to own a gun (dangerous), we have to take a test to drive a car (dangerous). These kids are dangerous to society and themselves, and it either goes back to the upbringing, or they are mentally unstable and should not be with other students.
45 students in Old Town? I wonder how much that figures out to be, per student, that we have to pay for.
Why was this not an issue 30 years ago? Is there something in the water these days affecting the mentality of these students? Or does it all narrow down to the mentality of the parents?
Anonymous

Just curious, but what is the cost per student to run this school? What is the staff to student ratio? Some key facts are being left out.
AionNV

That’s funny, because after reading all YOUR comments, I thought that YOU were “full of something”.
AionNV

OMG, you’d just let him smash his head until he’s broccoli. How, uh, reasonable of you.
Herbert Taggart

Barb Gunn and her staff are some of the most caring people I have ever worked with .They are the best day treatment school in the area .
Anonymous

There are some interesting things to consider about this article. First, doing some elementary math (45 students in the school, grades K-12) that means on average there are only three or four kids per grade. That’s a pretty lonely existence, especially when the students are all at different places with their behavior. Second, there is no discussion of where the students go from here? Do they return to regular schools or less restrictive environments? Do they get a regular diploma and meet all the standards for graduation? Third, how do the restraint and seclusion “therapies” vary by age? A 150+ pound adult sitting on top of a 40 pound child is different than sitting on a 250 pound teenager. Finally, no mention at all about training of the parents in the techniques they “successfully” use at school.
Anonymous

My conduct is not the problem being discussed. I am a responsible professional and citizen. Extreme situations where there is truly emminent danger is also not being questioned. The “hands off” approach is simply a philosophy where we would rather put the effort in to prevent a crisis rather than letting a kid escalate to the point where restraint is necessary. Many teachers want to do it but have not been given the tools necessary to carry it out effectively.

I can agree to disagree with you, however I don’t think our beliefs are really that far apart.
Anonymous

But if you, as a parent, knew that situation could have been avoided by something as simple as allowing the child 5 minutes out of the classroom or providing them with a schedule so they knew when it was time to change classes, I’ll bet you’d be upset if they were being restrained.
Anonymous

Would also be interested to know how the REAL School students compare on the annual standardized Maine High School Assessment (SAT). There’s no report at the Maine Department of Education website.
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Finding a new job is not easy. I did complain and was yelled at, in my face.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZSBAAXFEXTIBDSRA5X3FA6TSG4 jersey

I reported, I complained, i stopped doing the restraints, I called the state. I NEVER blow smoke.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Restraining a child does absolutely nothing to teach them accountability or responsibility, and certainly not self control. Teaching and practicing coping skills and self-interventions is what is going to help. Kids react in a fairly predictable way based on the role the adult chooses to play. If the adult is compelled to try to control the kid and “keep them in line,” then the kids is going to behave like an out of control kid. If a kid is treated like a useless punk he is going to behave like a useless punk. If you encourage a child, focus on their strengths, show them their different choices, believe in them, tell them they can accomplish anything they want to it will build their confidence and their behavior will be far better.
Anonymous

This sounds like a great program. I would be interested in seeing some results of the success of the kids after high school. Our schools are so over-crowded that it is way too easy to label a child a troublemaker and kick them out because there are 30 others in the classroom to worry about. I like how Barbara Gunn said, “You have to like these kids.” I think that is very true. you have to like them and want to help them when no one else does. It is the same in social work. If you work with kids and treat them and advocate for them like they are your own kids, then miracles really can happen!
alf999

It is nice to know there are people like you who are open minded, and not just the “it’s my way or the highway type”.
alf999

A good teacher/coach is only as good as the students ability to learn or see a different way of doing things, it is helpful to have a teacher that is good at their job. There would not be so many complaints about the money spent on Education if there were not so many disatisfied with the students being graduated.
alf999

Well said, The school staff are the ones responsible for the students from the time school starts until it end for the day. There seems to be quite a few teachers these days that are less mature then their teenage students, and their need for control is unreal. I know a teacher that told her class they could trust her, she wanted to be like a big sister, she had a favorite group of students in her class, One of the student ( not in the favorite group) that knew she was a Phony saw her over the summer and the teacher could’nt remember the kid.
Anonymous

Amen. And if I might add as an educator…some of them don’t get angry at school…some of them come in that way. How about a change in these poor kids home lives???? We always focus on education short changing these kids…teachers are educators, counselors, and friends to a lot of kids. The one thing we can’t be in most cases…their parents.
alf999

“30 kids in a classroom” in Maine? Where? Most of the classrooms in my district don’t even have 20 kids in a classroom.
Anonymous

I know that’s a little exagerated in some parts. The point was, classroom sizes are getting bigger due to budget issues and whatever so it is harder to manage children with behavior issues than it has been in the past. Teachers don’t have the time to focus on behavior in the same way that this program does.
Anonymous

It sounds like they are also learning skills they can use in the outside (real) world as well.
Anonymous

This philosophy, especially for older kids, is spot on for certain situations. I run a traditional public school special education program. We’ve had way more success with the restraining less it more philosophy. In my experience, you can build a lot of rapport and establish a level of mutual respect with kids who have been restrained in public schools and mental health facilities, when you chose not to restrain and simple take actions to keep them safe. If they are banging their head, give them a pillow. If they are walking along the street, give them an escort. If they are throwing chairs, get out of the way. I would add that there are 95 different comments here because you can not ever generalize one school’s or one person’s experiences. This is the pitfall that our government battles with. You can not apply my experiences with every school in the country or even the 95 different experiences on this blog. That being said, “StillRelaxin” is generally wrong.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Peter-Attwood/684329666 Peter Attwood

It’s absurd to deny that there are plenty of people in public schools who don’t like these kids. As TIME magazine documented in their recent story on abuse in residential “treatment” facilities after the murder of a 13-year-old autistic kid in one of them, cruelty and abuse in schools is systemic, and especially against kids with disabilities. Many are killed every year by school people.

But much more common, routine, is the cold and calculated business of destroying them to save money. That’s policy. We’re on our way to hearings in a case I’m working on where the district wants to identify the kid as mentally retarded just to give themselves an alibi for their failure last year, and they’ve sued to say he needs more of the same only dumbed down so the district looks better. I run into that all the time. This district is not even the worst in our area. There’s no money to educate the kid, but there’s always plenty for lawyering against him!

There are lots of individuals in public education that actually want to do good to kids, who think their job is education. But the education industry is a business – a heartless, manipulative enterprise that doesn’t hesitate to destroy kids and their families to protect the business in the short term, with no meaningful accountability, and no real oversight – only captive regulators, from compliant and indifferent local school boards to the US Department of Education.

And that French statesman was right – “C’est pire qu’un crime, c’est une faute,” “It’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake.” The money they save by screwing the kid over this year they pay year by year for him to fail, and then they finally vomit him out into the prison system or some other expensive disaster. Then they whine that the society they’ve stuck with coping with the mess doesn’t give them more money to keep behaving like this! Maybe if they were forced to do their jobs instead of taking care of the business at the expense of the kids, there would be more left for the work of education that they aren’t doing now anyway.
StillRelaxin

I’m not questioning your conduct. Just wondering why you would say that you’ve observed child abuse but failed to mention what you did about it. Seems like the first thing I would have mentioned after making an accusation.

What you say here is exactly what I mean about this being a “non-story” because what you describe as proper procedure to avoid restraint is exactly what I’ve seen people in residential treatment facilities and public schools doing over the last 25 years. Neither you nor this story is presenting anything new to anyone who works in such institutions.
I’ve already stated that a school’s ability to perform such duties to perfection have been and will continue to be limited by funding. I’ve also insinuated that “Special” Schools might be able to do this better. But at WHAT COST? Sure I’ll support it, but if the public doesn’t want to fund public schools, why would anyone think they’d fund special schools at double or triple the cost?

While many taxpayers enjoy hating on public schools, I think knowing the cost of these “Special Schools” would absolutely send them over the deep end. Which I believe is why you didn’t see ANY mention of cost in either of these two stories.

All these stories are doing is playing on the public’s taste and enjoyment for hating on schools (That eat up their taxes) and their gullibility to believe that spending money elsewhere will be a smarter option. And of course it will be, if they can afford it!

I simply find it annoying that people frequently bad mouth schools. Often with flamboyant false accusations and claims then turn around to tell us the way things should be done. And what do the offer us as a magic bullet strategy? The same old common sense strategy that has been used by most good parents and good schools for 50+ years.

I caution the public to not be gullible. Support your schools and support your teachers for they are the only salvation you have from being SOLD a “Shiny New Plan” that is very much like what you‘ve always had…only at a much higher cost.
Anonymous

I still would like to know what the cost per student is and total operating costs. I would also like to know the student to staff ratio. My bet is it is not sustainable if applied to all schools.
Anonymous

Westbrook has big classes like that.
StillRelaxin

Then you must not be in Maine because there is no such thing as “Tenure” in Maine. “Continuing Contract” yes, but that is a far cry from having something like tenure. Any teacher can be dismissed and I’d have to say that man-handling a child would be near the top of the list (Just below having intimate relations like the lady in Waldoboro recently) of really good reasons to lose one’s teaching position. What you’re claiming here just doesn’t add up. If your efforts to expose abuse failed at your employment site you also had/have the option to contact State officials. They tend not to turn a blind eye to child abuse.
Anonymous

I really like this article. I am wondering what you do with elementary school students who are placed in and ED self contained classroom. It seems a shame we wait until high school do this type of program. Thanks
Anonymous

I think your correct
Anonymous

I really enjoyed this article. I would be interested in seeing this process work with elementary ED programs (K-5).
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Yes, the teacher reports were in another state. The abuse wasn’t physical…it was verbal and emotional. This teacher would verbally assault and belittle kids and there was one boy in particular (not my son, but a classmate) who would cry and she would actually punish him for crying. She was disgusting in her behavior. She had been teaching in the district for over 20 years and the district protected her. Ultimately I pulled my child out of that school district and placed him in a private school. I did complain about one teacher in Maine within the last few years, but it wasn’t as severe and the teacher was at least somewhat receptive to criticism and acknowledging mistakes.

Verbally provoking adults and mishandling of situations due to ignorance of crisis intervention and communication skills is not abuse. It’s lack of training and knowledge. Not all treatment/mental health facilities are schools or deal with minors. I already said this was relating to adults and not children. Not sure why or how you missed that if you read my post because it was only a small paragraph.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

There are actually a lot of people who are like that…and you can always pick them out because you can see that the genuinely LOVE what they do. It’s not just a paycheck to them and they are there for the right reason. It also shows in the way they get treated by those being helped.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Bingo! You are focused on teaching coping skills that those kids can use to help them learn more responsibility and accountability for their well-being. When you have built that rapport and relationship with a person you do get a feel for what is normal for them and have a pretty easy time identifying when things aren’t quite right and something could be building so you can actually intervene BEFORE a crisis occurs. This really should be common sense in this field.
TeaParty_aka_AmericanTaliban

Not sure of the answer to that, but I would imagine that for these specific kids that they are considerably higher. Kids do far better when their experiences are more positive because they are more able to focus and learn.

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