The restraint and seclusion of students with disabilities

According to federal data, more than 100,000 students are restrained or secluded in U.S. public schools every year. Nearly four out of five are students with disabilities. “Restraint” at school refers to immobilizing a student, whether physically or through a mechanical device, or otherwise restricting a student’s ability to move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head. “Seclusion” refers to the involuntary confinement of a student in a room or area, from which the student is physically prevented from leaving.

The practice of restraint and seclusion dates back to premedieval times. The question of how it took hold in U.S. public schools is an interesting one.

In the 19th century, Americans could be forced into hospitals, asylums, and other institutions (where the restraint of patients was commonplace) for an extraordinarily wide range of conditions. For instance, records from one “hospital for the insane” show that, from the 1860s through 1880s, patients were admitted for everything from asthma and brain fever to sunstroke and “women trouble.” As late as the mid-20th century, children with special needs were routinely confined to institutions as well, and most were denied access to public education.