I just got this emailed to me, and thought that this sounded like an exciting project! It is about Youth and Sex Ed- it is only 10 questions long, and takes 3-5 minutes to complete, AND it is a project by a Youth!
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Greetings!
I am a West Chester University student, and I want to let you know about a cool new health project that I am doing with young people. For my class project, I am doing a survey with young people, ages 18 and older, on sex education in high schools. The survey is due next Friday, on February 26, 2010, and I hope you can participate!
This survey will look at how much sex education young people with disabilities get while they are in high school, and will help me understand how young people feel about the sex education they receive.
Please remember, you must be 18 or older to participate in this survey. Anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to participate in this survey. Participation in this survey is on a volunteer-basis. This means that only you decide whether or not you want to take the survey. Your answers to the survey questions will be kept secret and anonymous. This means that there will be no way for me or anyone else to know who you are or how you answered any of the questions on the survey.
If you take the survey and submit your answers, this means that you have given your consent, or permission, to be included in the survey. If any questions on the survey make you feel uncomfortable, you can skip them. You can also stop taking the survey at any time without any consequences.
Directions:
The survey is 10 questions long. If you are age 18 or older, and you would like to participate, please click the following link, which will take you right to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RKMX2HX
If you have any problem clicking the link, please copy and paste it into your internet web browser page and the survey should open. Once you have answered the survey questions, hit the button that says “done” to be finished. Please remember to take the survey by Friday, February 26th.
Thank you so much for your time!
Sincerely,
Emily Kronenberger
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Back in May I covered The Ed and Labor Hearing on Seclusion and Restraint on my personal blog. This week, there is an update on that front- Chairman Miller, Representative McMorris Rodgers and Senator Dodd introduced Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247) and Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (S.2860). You can watch the press conference that was held on this here (WMV) or read the Press Release.
Many organizations and coalitions applaud this introduced legislation, Saying that it is a big step for the rights of students across the country. Justice For All Action Network released a statement (Which you can read at ASAN’s site) stating that they were pleased as it has been one of the key components of their agenda. And Families against Restraint and Seclusion certainly see this as a step forward.
However, in the meantime between now and when the bill passes into law, a lot of things could change, and a lot of things are terrifyingly staying the same. Michael E. Robinson* of Parents United For Special Education recently distributed information about a case of school abuse in Cobb County, Georgia involving a 13-year-old Autistic student. For that young Georgian, the fact that people in DC have introduced legislation doesn’t take back the abuse he’s suffered since the May Hearing. Robinson also comments that he believes “it’s a shell that will need to be amended with some strong and heavy additions” and calls for the president to speak on the issue in attempt to get it the attention it deserves.
There is some legitimate Criticism of the bill as it stands now. As blogger Astrid writes in her post, certain phrases are really subjective, such as “imminent danger.” This has been a common concern about laws surrounding this issue, especially in Florida where it has been brought up over and over again. Too often, aides interpret situations that are not ones of true imminent danger as such, resulting in an escalation. These false positives are often reported vaguely, and as a result the truth of the incident is left in a he-said-she-said battle.
Another concern is that because the “teeth” of the bill is left to the states, the effectiveness- or even swift implication- of the bill is impaired or even neutered out completely. One of the other issues mentioned in the debates about Florida’s regulations is that the lack of consequences make the regulations useless. The bill states at Sec6(a) that the states will have 2 years to come up with state level regulations that must include enforcement (Sec 6(a)(1)(B)), among other things. My question is what is to happen in the meantime? And while there are measures to prevent them from delaying the process past the 2 years, there are no suggestions as to the minimum enforcement standards.
Another issue that I am worried about is that Section 5(a)(4) will be used to prevent parents and youth from specifying their wishes concerning the school’s policy on the restraints the bill does allow. Sec.5(a)(4) states that Seclusion and restraint my not be written in as a planned intervention into an IEP or other plan. While this is intended to prevent schools from pressuring parents into consenting to Seclusion and/or restraint in a child’s IEP, I fear that some schools might use this to justify restricting the amount of say parents and youth have in mitigating issues with school policy.
Even with these concerns, though, I think that this bill represents a great step forward for all students. Hopefully it will result in fewer students being injured, tortured, or even killed in our schools.
Wright’s Law has not yet posted its analysis, but their post on the bill is pretty good and they expect the analysis post to happen in the next week. I’m interested to hear their list of pros and cons- and hopeful that they will be able to clear up some of my concerns. After all, I’m not a lawyer, just someone who wades through legalese out of fun and need!
I’m also interested in other opinions on the bill as it progresses through the House and Senate, and am curious as to how it will be strengthened- or weakened.
* Please contact me if you get this so that I can link you in and provide readers with more information.
NOTE: if you have links to further commentary about criticism of the bill, please let me know.
