 |
Get Our FREE Email Newsletter
Receive natural health product reviews, recommendations and alerts.
Instant download of 20+ free health reports and exclusive interviews.
Join over 1.2 million monthly readers.
|
 |
Products Related to This Article*• Spirulina Pacifica
Pure, pristine spirulina superfood
for cancer prevention, alkalizing, immune func
• Amaz-a-Power
Amazing wild berry tincture from Peru
for eye & brain protection, cancer prevention
• Boku Superfood
High-potency superfood powder
for preventing numerous diseases
* Recommended by the Health Ranger.
See more recommendations on right →
|
|
 (NaturalNews) It appears that the use of electroshock punishment tactics isn't limited to the U.S. military these days: The state of Massachusetts has renewed a special education school's authority to use electric shocks as a form of punishment, even after the school admitted to administering excessive and unfair shocks to two children after being told to do so by a prank caller.
Last year, a prank caller believed to be a former student called the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, MA, in the middle of the night. Posing as an administrator, the caller told school officials to administer electric shock treatments to two students, one 16 and one 19, for infractions that had allegedly happened more than five hours before. In response to the call, the two students were awakened; one was shocked 22 times, and the other was shocked 77 times.
"I think it's fair to say that [giving someone] 77 shocks is unusual," school spokesperson Ernest Corrigan later admitted. "It is excessive to what is normal protocol. Giving 22 shocks is also excessive." So why did they give the shocks to children? And why did they do so after merely receiving a prank phone call?
According to Nancy Alterio, the executive director of Massachusetts' Disabled Persons Protection Committee, which received a phone tip about the incident, a third person was also shocked based on the same prank call.
In response to the incident, the school fired seven people, claiming, "This [incident] happened, we reported it and we've taken steps necessary so that this doesn't happen again," Corrigan said.
How America treats mentally disabled children...Rotenberg has approximately 250 students, most of whom live in one of 38 nearby group homes. All the students have mental disabilities that make it difficult for them to function in normal society, and many are low-functioning autistic children. About two-thirds of Rotenberg's students are minors.
It is my belief, by the way, that nearly all of these children were put into this mental state through either vaccinations, exposure to toxic chemicals or severe nutritional deficiencies during their mother's pregnancy. In other words, virtually all the children in the facility could have avoided mental retardation if our nation had a healthy food supply and realistic nutritional support for expectant mothers.
While much of the behavior modification treatment at the school is based on rewards, Rotenberg remains the only school in the United States to still use electric shock as a form of therapy. The state of Massachusetts has twice tried to have the school closed due to the practice, but has failed both times.
According to Rotenberg's Web site, shock therapy is only used "after obtaining prior parental, medical, psychiatric, human rights, peer review and individual approval from a Massachusetts Probate Court." (They forgot to mention it also includes a "prank phone call.") Corrigan dismissed the shock as similar in pain to a bee sting, and the school maintains that the shocks have "no significant negative side effects." You will note, however, that they did not subject their own employees to such electroshock treatment before firing them. That would be cruel, of course.
There's something rotten in RotenbergSixty percent of the school's students have court-authorized treatment plans that include electric shocks as punishment. And autism experts and patient's rights advocates dispute the claim that the shocks are harmless, pointing to the inevitable psychological harm done by such a practice.
According to Barry Pizant of the Brown University Center for the Study of Human Development, shock punishment "interferes with [autistic students'] ability [to] trust people who are with them, and these are people who already have trouble understanding people."
Yet the Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services recently extended Rotenberg's authorization to use electric shock by one year. To continue using electric shock therapy, the school must prove that it only uses shocks to punish the most dangerous and self-destructive behaviors, and must also prove that the shocks reduce the occurrence of those behaviors. Shocks must not be used for "seemingly minor infractions" such as swearing or getting out of seats without permission, and the school must show that it is committed to phasing out the treatments, particularly for students who are about to leave the school. Further, the state criticized the school for failing to customize treatments to individual students, and for failing to address the root causes of disruptive behavior.
Rotenberg has reportedly also agreed to eliminate the practice of delayed punishment or shocking sleeping students, as occurred in the August incident.
Opposition to electroshock therapy for autistic childrenMental health advocates expressed disgust that the practice of shocking children will continue. "I see [shock therapy] as the last vestige of [an] old practice that was proven ineffective and we should have stopped doing it all together 20 or 30 years ago," Pizant said. "If you look in the mainstream of people working with kids with disabilities these aversives are totally out of the mainstream."
"I think it's barbaric and there are really no words," said Rita Shreffler, executive director of the National Autism Association, "It's inexplicable. There's no reason to [shock] another human being." Shreffler urged parents with special needs children to carefully investigate the people or institutions that they entrust their children to.
Many schools, of course, continues to assault children with both chemicals (pharmaceuticals) and electric shocks, all under the guise of helping these children in some way. But the truth is that that mentally disabled children need love, nutrition and good parenting, not chemicals and electric shocks.
But I suppose it's not so surprising to learn that a nation now engaged in the routine torture of war prisoners -- in direct violation of the very U.N. treaties our veterans fought so hard to defend -- would also invoke electric shocks on mentally retarded children, too. There is no longer any respect for the value of a human being by our nation's leaders, and it appears some institutions disappointingly agree with that assessment.
If I had my way about all this, I would march into the Rotenberg school with a law enforcement team, arrest these school employees, and charge them with first degree assault of a minor. Let them spend a few years behind bars to think about what they've done.
Boost this article on YahooBuzz! Click "BuzzUp!"
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and technology pioneer with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder and CEO of a well known email mail merge software developer whose software, 'Email Marketing Director,' currently runs the NaturalNews email subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, Pilates and organic gardening.
 Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter
|
 |
Recommended Products Related to This Article*:Spirulina Pacifica
Pure, pristine spirulina superfood
for cancer prevention, alkalizing, immune func
Amaz-a-Power
Amazing wild berry tincture from Peru
for eye & brain protection, cancer prevention
Boku Superfood
High-potency superfood powder
for preventing numerous diseases
Vitamineral Green from Healthforce
Nutrient-dense superfood powder
for disease prevention, body alkalizing & more
Additional Products of Interest to AllBreville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL☯
Simply the best juicer in the world
for fast, easy juicing
Paraliminal Audio Courses☯
Powerful mind-enhancing audio therapy
for reprogramming your mind for a new future
Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle☯
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters
Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier☯
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds
How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days☯
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes
Hair Soap
A pure, simple and chemical-free shampoo
for washing hair without chemicals
Living Fuel SuperBerry Ultimate
Delicious superfood meal powder
for disease prevention, antioxidant boost
The Weiss Method for Heart Disease☯
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol
Aloe Vera 100
Pure, dried 100% aloe vera gel flakes
for sludge blood, IBS, Crohn's disease
Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets☯
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source
Blood Support
Halts growth of cancer tumors
for breast cancer and all cancers
Fucoxanthin with PinnoThin
Natural appetite suppressant
for obesity, overweight, overeating
Zyflamend
Powerful anti-inflammatory herbal formula
for arthritis, joint pain, inflammation
Nascent Iodine
Miraculous nascent iodine solution
for thyroid function, Alzheimer's, brain func.
MGC-5 Mushroom Extracts
Potent extracts of medicinal mushrooms
for reversing cancer, boosting immune function
P-73 Oreganol
Potent source of wildcrafted oregano oil
for parasites, heart disease, immune func.
Ocean Minerals Pure Magnesium Oil
#1 product for magnesium therapy
for back pain, heart health, muscle health
SunWarrior☯
Raw, vegan brown rice protein
for plant-based protein intake
FruitFast Cherry Fruit Concentrate
Fruit remedy for gout and arthritis
for gout, arthritis, inflammation
PureEnergy with Ribose
Powerful cellular energy enhancer
for heart disease, fatigue, poor energy
Peri-Gum
Anti-cancer, anti-gingivitis herbal mouth
for oral health without chemicals
Better Than Roasted - Macadamia Nuts☯
The most delicious raw nut spread ever
for heart health, circulatory health
* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger
☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews
|
|
Printable Version
Email this article to a friend
Share this article on: 
