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What Extremes

  • Writer: Jan Ware Russell, PhD
    Jan Ware Russell, PhD
  • Jul 10, 2021
  • 3 min read


I write this with no answers, just plenty of questions. Questions begin the search for the truth. I’m concerned about what I’m going to share. I’m hoping to spur conversation and an understanding of what is being used in the name of “disciplinary behavior management” for students with special needs. I am including the direct links to the articles. I started to review the information I’m providing, but then I realized that if I wait until I have fully reviewed the articles and then write, it might be too late. I’m just asking for dialogue.


One day I read about noise and the irritableness that it can cause. This article was very informative and reminded me as a classroom teacher and a scholar practitioner pursuing the best education possible for all students that I need to assess sound overload before jumping to an immediate assumption that an individual is being defiant.


Then within 48 hours I read about the use of shock therapy being defended for assisting in behavior modification for special needs students. When I read that article, I was surprised to realize Electroconvulsive Therapy and its spinoffs are still being used. The defended spinoff treatment is termed, graduated electronic decelerator (GED).


I begin to wonder, AGAIN, what is going on in our schools? What I read about the noise sensitivity appearing as children with behavior issues, and recommendation of occupational therapy and other learned and researched alternatives for anyone...and then reading about the shock therapy, I’m concerned to say it mildly.


Let me pose my opinion and question. My early educational experience started during the 1970s when I thought Electroconvulsive Therapy was just beginning to be revealed as a detrimental practice. While Electroconvulsive Therapy has led to new forms of muscle shock regeneration in sports medicine, heart conditions, and other medical breaking accomplishments, I firmly believe that using Electroconvulsive Therapy or any variant as a disciplinary or therapeutic option is dangerous. Dangerous because who determines at what level of adverse behavior will it be determined that ECT or GED should be used and who at what level determines the amount of shock that is warranted?


I am also including a quick background and overview of ECT (Electroconvulsive therapy) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6323557/ that brought to my attention ECT is still alive and well on planet Earth. Also included is a link to an article about GED. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mental-health-watchdog-says-electroshock-use-on-children-and-adolescents-is-torture-masked-as-therapy-300636427.html


With the Britney Spears’ conservatorship lawsuit in the news https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a34113034/why-longtime-britney-spears-fans-are-demanding-to-freebritney/ , when will individuals overstep their responsibility to control (help) people by external measures that may include physical harm?


I’m just asking for respectful dialogue on this issue. I’m not trying to point blame or create divisions. I’m just concerned that I was blindsided when I learned that a form of Electric Shock Therapy could be used on special needs students to control their behavior.


For further contact or background on Jan Ware Russell, PhD:


The Russell Institute of Learning, Powered by The W.A.R.E. Concept (Working At Renewing Education) is a collaborative learning environment of students, teachers, parents, and community individuals.


FB: Russell Institute Of Learning

LinkedIn: Jan Ware Russell

YouTube: Russell Institute Of Learning: Sidebar Education

Website: https:tinyurl.com/Russell-Institute-of-Learning



To learn more about Dr. Jan's research you can find the abstract and download of her research, "Characteristics of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools" at https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/11/


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