Prank led school to treat two with shock

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Boston Globe

Two special education students at the controversial Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton were wrongfully delivered dozens of punishing electrical shocks in August based on a prank phone call from a former student posing as a supervisor, a state investigative report has found.

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School staffers contacted state authorities after they realized they had been tricked on Aug. 26 into delivering 77 shocks to one student and 29 shocks to another, according to Cindy Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Early Education and Care, which drafted the report. Both students were part of a Rotenberg-run group home in Stoughton for males under age 22.

The Judge Rotenberg center, which serves about 250 adults and children from across the country, has been under fire for more than two decades for its unorthodox behavior-modification treatments, including electric shock treatments. Its defenders say that the school takes in troubled students, some with self-damaging behavior, who have been rejected by other schools. The center, which Massachusetts officials have tried twice to close because of its treatment methods, focuses on serving people with autism, mental retardation, and emotional problems.

Ernest Corrigan, a spokesman for the Rotenberg center, said the school contacted law enforcement "within hours" after discovering the prank, and that such an incident has never before happened at the school. Corrigan said they have instituted new safeguards to prevent such occurrences. He also said that while the school regrets the incident, the two male students who received the wrongful shocks did not experience any serious physical harm and did not need medical treatment afterwards.




Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/12/18/prank_led_school_to_treat_two_with_shock/

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Where did they train these employees - Gitmo or Abu Ghraib?

[MonteLukast]

1. The Rotenberg facility...

... was mentioned in the Mother Jones a few months ago. American Abu Ghraib, indeed.

School of Shock: be sure to wait until a couple hours after eating to read this.

[nachoproblem]

2. Go figure...

Some kids get electric shocks for thoughtless aggression, while others get scholarships to Yale, and eventually the presidency.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

[Judi Lynn]

3. In India, a teacher who did this has been sent to the slammer! Far more appropriate.

Dec 19, 5:29 PM EST

Shocking Punishment Puts Teacher in Jail

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- Indian police arrested a physics teacher who allegedly disciplined 22 unruly teenage students by giving them electric shocks, authorities said Wednesday.

The teacher used an exposed wire connected to batteries to administer mild shocks to eighth grade students in at a school in Bhusaval, a town 225 miles northeast of Mumbai, said S. Wagmare, the area's deputy superintendent of police.

The incident took place Saturday when the teacher "called the students to the laboratory for exercises, but he found them to be rowdy," Wagmare said.

Parents complained to the police and the teacher, who could not be reached for comment, was arrested two days later on criminal intimidation charges. He was later released on bail but faces up to two years in prison if convicted.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INDIA_STUDENTS_PUNISHED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-19-17-29-14

[Xithras]

4. A new twist on an old scam.

This same scam has led to rapes, false arrests, and people being fired. One of the most famous "pranksters" was a guy named David Stewart who called up a series of restaraunts several years ago and convinced their mannagers to assault employees under the guise of a police officer attempting to catch a thief. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_R._Stewart