In This Alert ...
Protect Children Nationwide from Restraint & Seclusion in Schools
Email Your Senator Today!
Sample Email Message
Circulation: 88,005
ISSN: 1538-320
January 24, 2012
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Pete and Pam Wright
Wrightslaw & The Special Ed Advocate
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Please email your Senators and ask them to cosponsor the Keeping All Students Safe Act (S.2020).
This bill will protect children nationwide from restraint and seclusion in schools.
The need for this legislation is exemplified yet again in a horrific situation in Middletown, CT regarding the use of school seclusion rooms.
The situation described by parents and students in this report is horrific and abusive. Aptly termed “scream rooms” in this media report, such seclusion rooms are exactly what the Federal bill, S. 2020, pending in the Senate seeks to eliminate.
Senator Tom Harkin (Chair, Health Education Labor and Pension Committee) introduced S. 2020 in December. The bill would ban physical restraint except in emergency situations when there is an immediate threat of serious bodily injury.
The bill bans seclusion (confinement) of children in locked rooms or rooms from which they cannot exit. It bans life-threatening restraint that interferes with breathing or the ability to communicate, and mechanical and chemical restraints. It requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of restraint.
Ask your Senator to cosponsor this important bill.
National, State and Local groups are urged to sign on in support of the Act at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingAllStudentsSafeAct |
Send an Email Message to Your Senators
Please email your Senators and ask them to COSPONSOR the Keeping All Students Safe Act. Ask your friends, family members, and colleagues to send emails.
The Senate needs to get emails from many, many parents, self-advocates, advocates, family, friends, and the wider community. Every person is a voter. Be sure you ask them to “cosponsor” the bill.
You can email your Senators through their Senate website forms. Go to:
http://1.usa.gov/Senat or
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
You can find your State’s Senators by choosing your state at the top. Every State has two Senator’s PLEASE EMAIL BOTH OF YOUR SENATORS.
Please do not call or fax unless you absolutely need to. Letters mailed through regular mail to the U.S. Congress are delayed for anthrax screening. So, please use email.
Link to this Action Alert - https://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/12/al.0124.s2020.htm |
Your Message: Sample Email
COPAA provides a sample email you can send your Senators. Feel free to change it as you like.
If your child or a family member / friend / fellow student was restrained or secluded, please include that in your email and briefly tell their story.
But please email even if you have not been personally affected. The Senate must hear from many, many people.
You might write “We are parents/family members/friends of a child with autism, and we are concerned that any child in school could be subjected to these techniques.” Or you might briefly describe your clients or advocacy work. Write what you feel comfortable writing.
Here's a message you can use and more information about the bill.
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