Electroshock discipline on students? School successfully lobbies Congress to keep it legal
Jonah
According to a recent report in The Boston Globe, JREC administrations as well as many of the students' parents insist that shock therapy is the only way to effectively restrain and discipline the most behaviorally-challenged children that would otherwise hurt themselves or others. Many parents actually went to Capitol Hill to defend the practice in private meetings with senators and staff, and the school hired Bracewell & Giuliani, a law firm headed by former Mayor of New York City and presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, to head up the efforts.
The electric shock technique involves attaching electrodes to the arms, legs, or torsos of students and administering two-second shocks of either 60 or 66 volts. The average shock current is between 15 and 41 milliamps, which is up to 20 times more powerful than the electric shock delivered by a police taser.
Edward D. Krenik, a top Washington lobbyist who headed the recent lobbying efforts on behalf of JREC, told lawmakers that without electric shock therapy and the other "unorthodox methods" employed by JREC, many children at the center would either be institutionalized or dead. But opponents say that shocking children in this way is torture, and that it should be stopped immediately.
"This is an inhumane form of discipline, and I'm particularly troubled by it when positive behavioral supports have been so successful," said Mass. Sen. John Kerry in a statement. "I understand that there are ongoing state and federal investigations, and I hope they result in an end to this archaic practice."
Sources for this story include:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/hea...
www.naturalnews.com/031656_electroshock_students.html