WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee,

announced the introduction of the Keeping All Students Safe Act, a bill to ensure the effective implementation of positive behavioral interventions in our nations’ schools.  The legislation will help schools establish a safe and engaging learning culture for teachers and students alike, and will bar the use of seclusion in locked, unattended rooms or enclosures. The bill also prohibits almost all uses of restraint procedures in schools. A summary of the bill can be seen here.

“There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of treatment of children. Studies and data analyses are concrete in their findings that seclusion and restraint hurts children instead of helping them, and causes psychological trauma to their peers as well,” said Murphy. “Instead of using these ineffective methods to change a child’s behavior, we should be developing support services for schools and educators that care for kids in a compassionate way. I plan to move forward in the coming months to develop effective and holistic alternatives to this horrific treatment of our kids.”

“My goal is to bring about change—to stop the use of seclusion and to severely limit the use of restraints in schools, and to provide teachers and school leaders with the resources to replace these antiquated techniques with learning environments that engage students so incidences of challenging behaviors are decreased and learning in schools is optimized,” said Harkin. “The Keeping All Students Safe Act, which I am introducing today, will prohibit the use of seclusion and almost all uses of restraint, while ensuring that school personnel have the knowledge and resources available to respond, in a positive, supportive, and safe manner when challenging behaviors do occur.”