Advocate Slams 'Lazy Education' Over Alleged Use of 'Torture Boxes' for Special Needs Students

Investigation into School Practices

• 🏫 An upstate New York school is under investigation for allegedly using wooden boxes to confine special needs children.
• 🚨 The New York State Education Department has launched an inquiry, and several school staff have been placed on administrative leave.
• 📣 Community advocate Dr. Sarah Konwahahawi Hearne described the practice as "really lazy education" and "inadequate."

Lack of Consent and Transparency

• 🚫 Dr. Hearne emphasized that these boxes were used without parental consent or inclusion in any Individualized Education Program (IEP) or educational plan.
• ⚠️ There was a complete lack of transparency and accountability regarding the development and use of these boxes.
• 📦 The boxes are described as closed, with evidence of scratches, saliva, and duct tape, suggesting they were used as a "torture device."

Misuse of De-escalation Spaces

• 🧠 While calming spaces can be used for de-escalation with parental consent, these boxes were not used appropriately.
• 🗣️ The boxes were used for behavioral issues, not just to remove students from overstimulation, and there was no communication with parents.
• ❌ The term "timeout box" is rejected as a soft euphemism for what is described as a form of colonization, torture, and inhumane treatment.

Accountability and Wider Implications

• ⚖️ Accountability is being sought from the superintendent, the school board, and the state leadership.
• 🌍 Dr. Hearne called for the practice to be stopped nationwide if similar harm is being inflicted on students elsewhere.
• 📢 The issue came to light through a former teacher who posted images on social media, leading to community outrage and disclosures from families.

Trauma Inflicted on Students

• 😥 Children disclosed their experiences after seeing pictures, with some nonverbal children communicating their trauma through their own means.
• 😟 Even for children not placed in the boxes, knowing they were being used or seeing friends subjected to them inflicted trauma.