Article Analysis: "When Discipline Starts a Fight"

Being locked inside a small, dark, windowless room for hours at a time sounds like a scene out of a horror movie. However, this is a daily occurrence for Isabel Loeffler while at a place she is supposed to feel the safest: her school. The article, “When Discipline Starts a Fight,” by Robert Tomsho, tells the gruesome, real-life story of Isabel Loeffler. Isabel is an eight year old girl who suffers from autism, along with several other disabilities. Isabel was placed in a regular classroom with very little support, an action that a judge later ruled violated federal law.

Because public schools are under extreme pressure to teach more children with disabilities, the use of discipline by restraints and seclusion has become a prevalent issue. Exceptional children are placed into mainstream classrooms to benefit their education. Placing Isabel in a regular classroom was not the only wrong action performed by the staff at Waukee Elementary school. When Isabel began to act inappropriately during class, several staff members would execute restraint holds to keep Isabel from lashing out or attacking other students. These restraint holds lasted for several hours at some points, disrupting both Isabel’s school day as well as the teacher’s day. Using cruel punishment techniques, such as restraints and seclusion, only hurts the disabled child, eliminating the reason they were placed in a regular classroom in the first place. In one instance, Michael Renner-Lewis III, a child with autism, died in 2003 while being held in a restraint at his high school. It is imperative that those handling children with disabilities are properly trained on how to restrain children the safest way possible.

In 2001, when Isabel began school, she was assigned ...

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...d be provided with the proper training to do so. Looking at how Isabel’s teacher reacted to Isabel’s outbursts during class, it is obvious that she was not ready for a child like Isabel. I strongly disagree with Isabel being placed in a regular classroom. It was not in the best interest of Isabel or her classmates to have Isabel in class when she was having so many outbursts. Teachers at Waukee Elementary are also teaching students that the best way to solve a problem is to lock it away, just like they locked Isabel away. This is a horrible way to live by, especially if you are a teacher whose job is to mold the impressionable minds of today’s youth.

Sources:

Mandlawitz, M. (2007). What Every Teacher Should Know About IDEA 2004 Laws and Regulations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon

Tomsho, R. “When Discipline Starts a Fight.” WallStreet Journal. July 9, 2007