In this section, Lives in the Balance keeps you up-to-date on breaking news about how behaviorally challenging kids are being understood and treated, especially in schools and restrictive therapeutic facilities (stories with asterisks were brought to our attention by Lives in the Balance activists. While it's mostly the bad new that makes the headlines, lots of good work is being done by many people in many places on behalf of behaviorally challenging kids and their caregivers. The bad news just tells us there's more work to be done. Lives in the Balance does its part to accentuate the positive through its annual Trailblazer Awards, and does its part to effect change by Taking Action.
SCHOOLS:
April 18, 2013:
Parent Tardiness Lands Kindergarten Student in Detention*...WATCH the story on ABC News.
April 12, 2013:
With Police In Schools, More Children In Court...READ the story in the New York Times.
April 1, 2013:
Oregon Senate passes bill banning locking students in 'seclusion cells'...READ the story in The Oregonian.
March 14, 2013:
Focusing on Violence Before it Happens...READ the story in the New York Times.
February 20, 2013:
Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds...READ the story in the New York Times.
January 16, 2013:
Report Criticizes School Discipline Measures Used in Mississippi...READ the story in the New York Times.
January 9, 2013:
Bad Kid Box in West Virginia High School Humiliated Student, Sparks Protest...READ the story in the Huffington Post.
November 30, 2012:
Seclusion and Restraint in Schools: Parents Fight Back Against Deadly Tactics...READ the story in the Huffington Post.
October 1, 2012:
Oakland Schools to Let Feds Monitor Discipline of Black Students...READ the story in the Los Angeles Times.
September 23, 2012:
Texas Mom Outraged Her Teen Daughter Was Paddled "Bright Red" by Male Vice Principal for Cheating Incident...READ the story in the New York Daily News.
September 8, 2012:
A Terrifying Way to Discipline Children...READ the opinion in the New York Times.
August 29, 2012:
Rate of Physical Restraints in Schools is Alarming...READ the story in the Orlando Sentinel.
August 10, 2012:
New Massachusetts Law Gives Expelled Students More Options...READ about it in The Boston Globe.
June 27, 2012:
Trauma-Sensitive Schools are Better Schools...READ about how Collaborative Problem Solving can be part of the effort in The Huffington Post.
June 25, 2012:
Senate to Revisit School Restraint, Seclusion...READ the story from Disability Scoop.
May 31, 2012:
Mississippi Student Handcuffing Case: Jackson Public Schools Agrees To Stop Shackling Students For Non-Crimes*...READ about it in the Huffington Post.
May 20, 2012:
Hancuffing of 8-Year-Old Prompts Change in School Policy...READ about it in the Las Vagas Review-Journal.
May 15, 2012:
U.S. Department of Education Issues Resource Document that Discourages Restraint and Seclusion...READ the story from Ed.gov.
April 29, 2012:
Special Education Casualties Are Mounting...READ the story from the Maine Education Association.
April 9, 2012:
Keeping Students’ Mental Health Care Out of the E.R....READ about it in the New York Times.
April 2, 2012:
School Suspension Policy in Chicago Brutal, Unfair...READ the article from the Chicago Sun-Times.
March 22, 2012:
Why Suspension Makes No Sense in the Early Grades...READ the article from the Huffington Post.
March 12, 2012:
Why Florida Schools Want the Right to Paddle Misbehaving Students...READ the story from WUSF.
March 9, 2012:
Students with Disabilities Most Often Restrained...READ the story from Disability Scoop.
February 28, 2012:
Why Does America Lead the World in School Shootings? READ the story from CNN.
January 31, 2012:
Schools Suspending Thousands of State's Youngest...READ the story from WCVB.
January 29, 2012:
Zero-Tolerance Policies Toss Thousands From Massachusetts Schools...READ about it in the Lowell Sun.
January 26, 2012:
Connecticut Education Department data shows 18,000 instances of restraint or seclusion of school-children in 2009-10...READ the story from the New Haven Register...and CLICK HERE for the cartoon depicting our take on the problem.
January 14, 2012:
Experts Call 'Scream Rooms' Untherapeutic, Harmful To Children And Others At School...READ about it in the Hartford Courant.
December 19, 2011:
Senator Harkin Introduces Keeping All Students Safe Act...READ the story from the National Disability Rights Network.
November 29, 2011:
Schools are overreacting to misbehaving students...READ about it in The Washington Post.
August 30, 2011:
Buffalo Schools Asked to Change Suspension Policy*...READ the article from WBFO.
July 19, 2011:
Texas school discipline under the microscope: Study finds that 60% of kids are expelled or suspended...READ about it in the Houston Chronicle.
July 7, 2011:
Schools Struggle with Protocols for Restraining Unruly Students...READ about it in The Bay Citizen.
April 7, 2011:
School Restraint, Seclusion Bill Resurfaces in Congress...READ about it in DisabilityScoop.
March 30, 2011:
A Trip to These Principals May Mean a Paddling...READ about it in New York Times...and CLICK HERE for a cartoon depicting our take on the issue.
RESTRICTIVE THERAPEUTIC FACILITIES:
November 20, 2012:
Massachusetts Seeks New Policy on Life Sentences: Youths Must Get Chance of Parole...READ the article from the Boston Globe.
November 16, 2012:
Minors in "Solitary" Hallucinate, Harm Themselves...READ the story from The Center for Public Integrity.
September 2, 2012:
31 Shocks Later...READ the article from New York Magazine.
July 13, 2012:
Solitary Confinement Hurts More Than It Helps...READ the article from The Statesman.
June 25, 2012:
High Court Ruling on Juvenile Life Without Parole Could Impact Many...READ the story from Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.
May 6, 2012:
Mass Incarceration Is a Failure*...READ the story from The Buffalo News.
April 19, 2012:
Leake & Watts boy's death: 'I can't breathe,' boy shouts after staffers piled onto him, witness says...READ the story from lohud.com.
April 17, 2012:
Violence in Psychiatric Hospitals Usually Triggered by Staff, Not Patients...READ the story from GAIA Health.
April 11, 2012:
Uncompromising Photos Expose Juvenile Detention in America...READ the article from Raw File.
March 14, 2012:
Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences...READ the editorial from the New York Times.
January 6, 2011:
Death of Restrained Boy Ruled Homicide...READ the story in the Houston Chronicle.
DIAGNOSES:
May 8, 2013:
The New Criteria for Mental Disorders...READ about it in the The New Yorker.
May 6, 2013:
Psychiatry's Guide is Out of Touch With Science, Experts Say...READ about it in the New York Times.
March 31, 2013:
More Diagnoses of Hyperactivity in New C.D.C. Data...READ about it in the New York Times.
July 3, 2012:
Nearly 1 in 12 Teens Has Anger Disorder, Harvard Study Finds...READ about it in Harvard Medicine News.
April 7, 2012:
The Autism Wars...READ about it in the New York Times.
March 8, 2012:
Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD...READ the story in Psychology Today.
TREATMENT:
October 9, 2012:
Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School...READ the story in the New York Times.
July 2, 2012:
Physical Punishment and Mental Disorders: Results from a Nationally Representative US Sample...READ the abstract from Pediatrics.
February 8, 2012:
Spanking Kids Can Cause Long-Term Harm: Canada Study...READ the article from Reuters.
February 5, 2012:
Mentally Ill Get Punishment Instead of Treatment...READ about it in the Detroit Free Press.
January 30, 2012:
The Caging of America: Why Do We Lock Up So Many People? READ the article from The New Yorker.
April 23, 2008:
Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations...READ the story in the New York Times.