Horrifying

So today I decided to pick up a magazine called Mother Jones, and on the cover it said 'School of Shock', and in smaller letters it said 'Food Deprivation, Isolation, Electric Shock'. Kelsey had mentioned the article in passing last night so I decided to read it. I'm glad I did, but at the same time I'm going "I did not need to know that was out there", even though I actually do want to know what's out there.

The article was very long and detailed, explaining all about how this school in Massachusetts the, Judge Rotenberg Center, is a school for treating behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities, but in the most archaic form. Electric shock was the big one. They hook the child, teen, adult up to a electrical device and if they get violent, cuss, say something wrong they get shocked! According to the man who runs it, Dr. Israel, it's painful, but without any side effects. It's merely a disciplinary action like spanking your child, only taken to the extreme. It disgusts me to no end.

Twice Massachusetts has tried to shut the school down, once in the 80's and once in the 90's (politically correct my ass), twice Dr. Israel has managed to wiggle his way out of closure. Parent's have actually rallied to it's defence. They say it's a life saver, before JRC their children were violent, disobedient, and rude. After JRC all they have to do is show them the shelf (the device used to shock the "students") and their son/daughter would sit down and eat, or whatever other thing they wanted them to do.

I'm not saying that it's not a good idea to have a school were you can send your child to get help with their disability, and where you can learn to handle them once they come back, but electrical shock is not the answer. If we, the American people, found out that the P.O.W.'s we've taken are being tortured by our military there'd be a public outcry. Yet when our own children are being tortured we don't do anything. What does that say about us? What does that say about our ability to help people with needs?

<3
Olivia