Nebraska senator Mike Groene has proposed Legislative Bill 595 regarding public schools with two major parts: the physical restraint of disorderly students as well as the legal repercussions and disciplinary actions a teacher may experience in doing so. This bill would allow teachers to physically restrain and remove unruly students from their classroom without it being labeled corporal punishment; it would also allow teachers to keep students out of their classroom until the he or she allows them to return. The next big piece explains that teachers couldn’t lose their job or be sued for the rightful restraint of students. We, The Bulldogger staff and North Platte High School students, feel safe in our school with the guidelines we already have in place. That doesn’t mean that we don’t want more precautions, because in reality, our teachers could probably use another tool in their belt. With that being said, LB595 absolutely needs more clarification and stricter guidelines before it becomes a state-wide law.

Restraint is a legal term meaning something that restricts freedom or prevents someone from doing something. People who work in the legal field and hear this word often might understand, but the students and teachers of NPHS might not. Before writing the in-depth story about LB595, our staff couldn’t picture that restraint in our minds. Is restraint wrapping your hands around the student’s body or could it be securing a student’s hands with an extension cord too? Either way would prevent him/her from causing harm but whether or not they’re both acceptable could be questioned. This bill directly affects students and we believe that students should have to right to understand what it’s saying.

In a school, there should be checks and balances. LB595 states that teachers may use “physical force or physical restraint or removal from a class in response to student behavior.” What does that student behavior look like? We think that if a student is causing harm to his/herself or other students, restraint may be necessary. If a student calls a teacher a mean name, he would likely get asked to leave but he wouldn’t be suspended therefore, he probably shouldn’t be physically removed either.

“A teacher shall not be subject to legal action or administrative discipline for removing a student,” states LB595. Teachers and administrators should be just as safe as students but to what extent? If a child “restrained” another, there would be a review of that situation. The bill does not state whether or not an investigation will be conducted if a teacher did the same thing. How would parents feel about that if they thought their child was wrongfully restrained? It might be implied that a review would happen but it needs to be clearly established. We are afraid this misconception could be cause for abuse of the right.

We appreciate Groene’s efforts, as we don’t believe more safety is a bad thing. However, this bill had a lot of room for interpretation and that flaw is a bad thing. LB595 needs revision and if it was cleaned up and clarified, there would be more support rather than opposition.