This year's Lives in the Balance Children's Mental Health Conference is focused solely on two issues -- corporal punishment and the use of restraint and seclusion in schools -- and two pending federal bills related to these issues: the Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) and the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act. Co-sponsored by Division 37 of the American Psychological Association (APA), the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment (NIECP), the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), the Alliance Against Restraint and Seclusion (AASR), and the US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children. Speakers will focus on the research related to these issues, first-hand accounts of the harm done by restraint, seclusion, and corporal punishment, first-hand accounts of educators who have ended their use of these practices, alternative methods, and how to advocate for these bills. Here is what the day will look like:
8:45 am - A Brief Look At Race and Corporal Punishment in Schools: Dr. Stacey Patton. Dr. Patton will discuss the history of the paddle, its early usage on American slave plantations, and how it made its way into schools as a form of punishment. She will also discuss how paddling coexists with and reinforces "zero-tolerance" and "no excuses" disciplinary policies in large, high-poverty school districts which have resulted in Black students being disproportionately suspended, expelled, and arrested for minor offenses which far too often sets them up for poor outcomes ranging from failing grades, to dropping out of school, to becoming incarcerated.
9:20 am - What Research Tells Us about the Harms Linked to School Corporal Punishment: Dr . Liz Gershoff. Corporal punishment is still used in schools in 19 states, despite evidence that it is ineffective and potentially harmful to children. In this presentation, Dr. Gershoff will summarize the research on the harms to children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development associated with corporal punishment, as well as research on the disparate use of school corporal punishment with boys, Black students, and students with disabilities.
9:55 am - Description of the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act: Congressman A. Donald McEachin and congressional aide Blair Wriston
10:15 am - Break
10:30 am - Religiously Sanctioned Corporal Punishment on Reservations, Plantations, and Concentration Camps: The Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong. The colonization of The Americas by European powers often resulted in the displacement of Black, Brown, Beige, Indigenous, and other People of Color onto reservations, plantations, and the equivalent of concentration camps. Along with this colonial mindset came a sense of cultural imperialism that intended the mass education, reeducation, or miseducation of primary and secondary aged children under the cloak of religion. The extreme abuse of these educational efforts resulted in the death of an untold number of children especially in North America. This presentation will examine this history and the generational trauma that now plagues many communities of color throughout the United States of America and its territories.
11:00 am - Spare the Rod, Save the Child: Corporal Punishment in Holmes County, Mississippi: Ellen Reddy. In 2012, youth organizers of the Nollie Jenkins Family Center (NJFC) embarked upon a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project to address the increasing amount of violence occurring in Holmes County,Mississippi. Using pencils and journals to document incidences of violence in homes, schools, and the community, our young people found that violence touched everyone, regardless of gender or age, and arose from several points of conflict. For the young people, school seemed a particular focus, so NJFC began creating its campaign to abolish corporal punishment in all schools within the school district and implement effective discipline practices that create a safe and healthy school environment.
11:30 am - Using Grassroots Advocacy to End Corporal Punishment and Seclusion and Restraint in School: Kenneth Polishchuk. In this session, participants will receive information on the value of grassroots advocacy to advancing legislation. This will include training on advocating with policymakers, both through meetings and written communication, as well as strategies and best practices on how to make the most impact by including data, as well as stories as part of the message.
12:00 pm - Lunch Break : Screening of segments of Lives in the Balance documentary film The Kids We Lose
1:00 pm - What are restraint and seclusion and what harm do they cause? Guy Stephens. Physical restraint is a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a student to move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head freely. Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area from which the student is physically prevented from leaving. Restraint and seclusion are aversive interventions often used by school personnel in crisis situations to manage behaviors of concern. These interventions are often used on the youngest and most vulnerable children. Restraint and seclusion can lead to trauma, serious injuries, and even death in students, teachers, and staff.
1:45 pm - Alternatives to restraint, seclusion, and other punitive, exclusionary disciplinary practices: Dr. Ross Greene. Dr. Greene will describe the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model, an evidence-based intervention that has produced dramatic reductions in detentions, suspensions, restraint, and seclusion in schools and elimination of restraint and seclusion in prisons, residential facilities, and inpatient psychiatry units.
2:30 pm - Break
2:45 pm - Description of the Keeping All Students Safe Act: Senator Chris Murphy and Denise Marshall. Denise will share a brief history of efforts to pass federal legislation, debunk myths and share facts, and provide an overview of the components of the bicameral federal bill's provisions.
3:30 pm - Call to Action: How to Get Involved
4:00 pm - Conclude