Oct 16, 2008 9:55 pm US/Central
Teen: Time-Out Made Me Feel Like School Prisoner
WESTCHESTER, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Caleb Londoff is haunted by the time-out room inside MacNeal School in Westchester.
CBS
You may have heard of time-out rooms, or isolation areas, in schools. Students are only supposed to be put in them when they become a danger to themselves or others. One teenager told CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini how he was placed in isolation nearly 60 times in less than a year, making him feel like a prisoner.
Caleb Londoff is haunted by the time-out room inside MacNeal School in Westchester.
"They can be put in there for like five days straight, and that's not school -- that's just basically jail," he said.
Schools are not supposed to use time-out as punishment. But records from Caleb's school show he was repeatedly locked in time-out or put in isolation because of offenses such as talking under his breath, arguing about a gym score, not saying hello or not doing his work. He would be locked up for hours -- even as long as six hours.
"Eventually I'd just sleep, that's the only way I'd get through it," Caleb said.
His mother, Bettina Wendt, struggling with what happened to her son, wants school time-out rooms banned. "The torture needs to stop," she said.
CBS 2 wanted to inspect the time-out room in question but was not allowed to see it.
Zena Naiditch and Deborah Kennedy of Equip for Equality, an advocacy group, are pushing the state board of education and Illinois lawmakers to end the use of time-out rooms in schools.
"There isn't an effective oversight system to insure protection of children who are being placed in time-out," Kennedy said.
In Caleb's case, the state did cite MacNeal School for time-out room violations. That's because in his case the room was used as punishment, not because he was a danger. But Wendt says that wasn't good enough.
"They got a little slap on the hand and maybe stopped for a little while, and then they started doing the same things again," the mother said.
School records confirm that Caleb continued to be punished in time-out rooms and not because he was a danger.
Elizabeth Hanselman from the state board of education says she can't comment on the teen's case but says schools know the rules. "We take it very seriously," she said.
Caleb left MacNeal School two years ago. His mom says he went from flunking grades to A's and B's.
In a statement, the principal at MacNeal School said the school consistently earns "high marks from parents, students, educators and regulators" and is inspected by the state periodically. The principal said the school does adjust its policies and procedures.
When it comes to all schools, the use of time-out rooms is not reported to the state, so it's not clear how many schools use these rooms. It's this lack of tracking and oversight that Equip for Equality says makes time-out rooms ripe for abuse.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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