Quiet Rooms: Illinois schools lead the nation in imprisoning very young, disabled children in isolation chambers

20 years ago, Illinois was rocked by a scandal after the widespread practice of locking schoolchildren, especially those with disabilities or special needs, in small, confining boxes was revealed. The teachers who imprisoned these children argued that they did so out of the interests of safety -- that of the imprisoned students, of the other students, and of school staff.

In the wake of that scandal, Illinois codified rules for "quiet rooms" -- small cells, sometimes padded, where children are locked up as part of a school safety program. Ironically, by promulgating rules intended to curb abuse, the state legitimized the practice, making Illinois the national leader in the use of this inhumane, abusive practice.

Propublica and the Chicago Tribune used extensive Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain records on the use of "quiet rooms" in Illinois schools and uncovered a disturbing pattern of what amounts to widespread torture of children, especially children with disabilities or special needs, in both private and public schools.

The investigation also revealed that the "quiet rooms" are only incidentally used in the interests of safety -- rather, they are a disciplinary tool, used to punish children who are disruptive, disobedient, or who get on their teachers' bad side.

The Illinois rules require that an adult be stationed outside of the "quiet room" when children are locked inside of it, and that they make minute-by-minute notes of everything the locked-up kid says or does, and weirdly, this seems like the sole legal requirement that schools comply with to any great degree, which means that Propublica was able to obtain thousands of pages' worth of terrifying logs that record children begging to be released, sobbing uncontrollably, and even self-harming while locked away, as an educator sits outside of the box, calmly noting down each of these cries and injuries, without acting on them. Read the rest