A lot of what we focus on here on Bullying Education revolves around the prevention of bullying behavior through positive role modeling and systematic regulations about violence, both physical and otherwise, within our schools. But how do those policies relate to the prevention of violent outbursts or the escalation thereof by school personnel?

A new legislative bill on the floor of both the House (HR1381) and Senate (S2020) is seeking to address the neutralization of violence in school through regulating the ability of school personnel to use restraint and seclusion on students who are acting out. Though the reports recognize that these students are disproportionately special needs students, the extension of these practices into the general population is clear, since hallway and classroom fights can often be the symptom of an underlying problem between two students or groups.

Readers of BE are uniquely situated to address these issues, and I invite you all to review the report from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) on this legislation as well as the response from disability advocacy group TASH. On our sister site, ChildsWork, I have also reviewed the contents of these two reports as a means to generate a dialogue between our readers about the implications of this legislation on multiple levels.

If our goal is to keep schools safe for all students, at what point should it be “alright” to intervene? And, what cost are we willing to pay for that intervention?