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School of Shocks
Just ran across an interesting and fairly creepy news story about a special needs school in Massachusetts that employs “skin shocks” to it’s students on a regular basis.
The state will not stop funding a Massachusetts school for disabled youths despite finding “skin shocks” - sometimes administered while students bathed - for offenses as minor as nagging, swearing and sloppy appearance, school officials said Monday. […]
The school’s attorney, Michael Flammia, said the state’s findings weren’t confirmed and that the educational and psychological experts sent to investigate the school were biased against shock therapy.
How dare these people be biased against the use of electric shocks?!! Why, that’s prejudice if I’ve ever heard it!
Most families that send the children to the school support the limited use of shock therapy, which isn’t used in New York State. Parents and students say the shocks, similar to bee stings that last a couple seconds in sessions once a week, have been more effective than medication for students.
“More effective than medication” - and there you have it.
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Bee stings hurt a whole fucking lot!
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:19 pm
I guess you can’t be allergic to electric shocks?
June 23rd, 2006 at 1:07 pm
tiny little bits of pain seems a nice way to run a school… maybe they should put hooks in their skin and attach birds…
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Wow, great couple of days of posting. I am still digesting the superhighway (Red Dawn anyone?) and the microsoft business. This thing with the kids is just *shocking*.
Surprisingly, what little I have left to think about shock therapy for behavoir modification doesn’t immediately lean to the negative. My minimal psychological background, (I am an ER nurse by trade and training and only a miniscule amount of applied knowledge in the area) says there could be some actual merit to it.
But.
Reinforcing behavoir on a broader scale ESPECIALLY with painful stimuli has frightening future implications. Though for the right people with the right method I could see how it might help.
What a slippery slope, though. I mean humans rarely misuse the tools they create, right?
June 24th, 2006 at 6:43 am
So…Something’s Shocking after all…
June 26th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
“more effective then meds”? wonder why. maybe it’s because that’s not what these kids need. maybe electicuting disabled kids dosn’t solve their problems. maybe “biased against shock therapy” means “level headed and reasonable”
i mean, these kids arn’t criminals!
there just slow!