LEGAL ENTANGLEMENT PROJECT – PART 2: COLLABORATION Analysis Assignment | Essay Help Services

Policy on Seclusion and Restraint

Name

Date

Institutional Affiliation

Part A

The Fairfax Public School system prohibits the use of solitude and control principles on students. This principle is only allowed after being deemed a necessity to control or protect the conduct of a particular student or member of staff (FCPS). Physical restraint implies using physical strength to avert or calm a student or staff from movement. The student or the staff is not free to move when restrained. Physical restraint is only permitted when an immediate action of protecting the student or other students is required. In other circumstances, physical control is pursued to protect the student from imminent danger. Seclusion, on the other hand, is the confinement of a student in solitary. The solitary may be a room or another area where barriers are used to prevent access to other persons.  In the education sector, the federal law prescribes that a staff member in a government institution may initiate a judicious action to restrain a learner of an institution from deeds or conduct that is risky to the teacher, the pupil, or any other learner (Tyler, 2019).

Requirements

As indicated earlier, physical restraint is only used when imminent danger is present, and where such actions of restraint and seclusion are considered reasonable. As provided by regulation 25, seclusion and restraint are only required to shield the learner or other students from physical injury. The decision to prescribe physical control and seclusion lies in the accurate and professional analysis by the staff member (Victoria State Government).

Mechanical and chemical restraint should never be performed in schools. Mechanical limitation subdues a student’s enjoyment of movement. This can only be done when such action is carried out for a therapeutic purpose evidenced by recommendation. Medicines that are not prescribed for the student restraint are not to be used.

Moral actions

Minimum force should be used to undertake the restraint order to avoid harming the student. The student should also be restrained for a minimum duration, and once the danger is over, released. This action considers the age, size, gender, physical impairment, mental status of the student.

Legal/moral implication

Failure to follow this protocol, the perpetrator, may be subjected to the provision of the Education and Training Reforms Regulation of 2017. When the restraint is done on a person with a disability, the course of action is directed to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Part B

Critique

The seclusion and restraint policy in the Fairfax public schools is discriminatory to students with disabilities. The schools acknowledge that the policy is in the best interest of the students. Yet, they have not laid down the proper procedures for carrying out the physical restraint and seclusion policy. The isolation facilities cause more physical harm to students, as once reported. Restraining a student with a disability each day amounts to discrimination. It implies that schools are not able to handle such students (Tyler, 2019).

Amendments

The policy for seclusion and restraint requires immediate amendments to include measures to be taken for such actions. The policy should be expanded to include training of teachers and students on how to address the welfare of learners with disabilities. The practice of this policy should be based on procedures and principles. Following laid procedures and principles is not only a legal requirement but also escalates the moral obligation of the school in protecting students with disabilities and other students who may in one way may need restraint (Tyler, 2019).

References

FCPS (2019). Students rights and responsibilities. Fairfax county public school. Retrieved from https://fcps.edu/about-fcps/

Tyler, M. M. (2019). Parents sue Fairfax schools over alleged isolation, discrimination against students. Washing American University Radio. Retrieved from https://www.wamu.org/story/19/10/09/parents-sue-fairfax-schools-over-alleged-isolation-discrimination-against-students/

Victoria State Government (2020). Restraint of students. Victoria State Government. Retrieved from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/governance/pages/restarint.aspx