|
BOY GOT BAGGED FOLKS BLAST SCHOOL
'BODY SOCK'
January 28, 2007
By CATHY BURKE
A Florida family is outraged over a
teacher's use of a big, baggy "body sock" to calm their 4-year-old
son after he went on a crying jag in class.
Patrick Holt, of Pinellas Park, has
since yanked his son from Pinellas Central Elementary and claims he
never gave permission for teachers to place the boy in the Lycra
pillowcase-like sack in mid-December.
"I don't like it at all," Holt said
at the time. "I don't think it should be used on anybody."
But Pinellas County Schools
spokeswoman Andrea Zahn last week called the body sock an
"institutional tool" that "has nothing to do with discipline."
"We have learned from a local
report that he is considering legal action," she told The Post. "The
matter has been internally investigated through our
professional-standards office . . . which found that the two
employees were acting within accepted procedures of the school
board."
Holt told local media his boy was
crying when he was put into the body sock.
"My wife saw my son try to open up
the body sock, and the teacher's aide went ahead and had him put it
back up," Holt said.
After the family complained, a
teacher wrote in the boy's daily journal: "In reference to the body
sock; it was not used for disciplinary reasons. It is used as a tool
for calming children down," the teacher wrote, according to local
cable news station Bay News 9's Web site.
"The verbal warnings given to [the
boy] prior to its use were not working. If I wanted to 'discipline'
him, he would've been in timeout."
The manufacturers claim the body
sock helps kids explore three-dimensional space. Some therapists use
the device for autistic children.
Holt's son is not disabled.
The county school board last week
backed the use of the device.
"Teachers behaved in an appropriate
manner in responding to a situation where a student needed to be
calmed down for the safety and security of all the students in the
classroom," Zahn said.
The school board said the teachers
admitted the parents had not previously been aware of the body sock
or its use.
Efforts to reach the Holts were not
successful.
UPDATE
ON THE USE OF THE "BODY SOX" IN FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT
Pinellas County School Board: body
sock used correctly
January 24, 2007
More information:
 The
teacher wrote
this note and
another one to explain to explain why she used the
body sock on the 4-year-old. The Pinellas County School Board has
released the results of its investigation into the use of a body
sock on a 4-year-old boy.
The report, released Monday, said a
boy who was put into the body sock was out of control and the body
sock was the best way to calm him down.
Body sox are meant for autistic
children or for those with learning disabilities, but the 4-year-old
is not learning disabled.
The boy's father, Patrick Holt,
said a body sock was used as punishment on his son without his
permission.
"I don't like it at all," Holt
said. "I don't think it should be used on anybody."
But the school board's
investigation says the body sock was used correctly.
"Teachers behaved in an appropriate
manner in responding to a situation where a student needed to be
calmed down for the safety and security of all the students in the
classroom," said Pinellas County School Board spokeswoman Andrea
Zahn.
The district said it will continue
to use body sox on any child.
"By the manufacturer's own design
they are a multi-use type of instructional tool," Zahn said.
The Holts said they strongly
disagree with the board's findings and have hired an attorney. They
are considering suing the school board and the teachers.
The school board said the parents
were not aware that body sox could be used on their son, but they
plan to include the possible use of the device in orientation next
year.
|
