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1

Awesome. We can expect a lot of these kids to become psychopaths and mass murderers. I won't be able to blame them.

Posted by Mr. Poe | September 19, 2007 11:10 AM
2

That'll teach Rob to speak out during a John Kerry lecture. Yeah, bro!

Posted by teach 'em | September 19, 2007 11:12 AM
3

Wow, that article is extremely disturbing. Did anyone read the whole thing? I think I'll have nightmares for the next month.

Posted by Rye | September 19, 2007 11:20 AM
4

I'm still in the midst of reading it. Repulsive. They're just torturing those kids, plain and simple.

Posted by Toby | September 19, 2007 11:46 AM
5

For Christ's sake! I'm surprised they're not lobotomizing them. Actually, that would almost be more humane.

The place is totally abhorrent and should obviously be shut down. But also, any parent that would enroll their kid should immediately be put up on child abuse charges.

Kubrick is laughing in his grave.

Posted by Matthew | September 19, 2007 12:01 PM
6

Agree with Matthew-the article said it was the parents of students who fought to keep it open when people tried to shut it down. I can't believe anyone would endorse electric shocks on their kids!

Posted by Dianna | September 19, 2007 12:25 PM
7

@6:

I think what those parents are really endorsing is a place they can leave their kids and not have to deal with them anymore. Their kids are somebody else's problem now.

Posted by Toby | September 19, 2007 12:33 PM
8

I for one think electro shocks to children is a great idea. Beating kids in schools produced "The Greatest Generation". They produced...everything McCarthy, Red Scare, Cold War, The Bomb, WWII, you name it. The problem with kids today is one, they don't get beat oft enough, and two, they don't get enough bad meat.

Posted by opus | September 19, 2007 12:39 PM
9

As a teacher I can saw I whole heartedly endorse the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center.

Maybe they're accepting applications?

Posted by Rotten666 | September 19, 2007 12:45 PM
10

That's fucked up!

Posted by monkey | September 19, 2007 12:46 PM
11

@7,

I wonder how those kids got screwed up in the first place.

Posted by keshmeshi | September 19, 2007 12:47 PM
12

So, how many BDSM enthusiasts are e-mailing you asking how they can acquire these devices?

Posted by Gitai | September 19, 2007 1:39 PM
13

On a side note, who the hell can afford $220,000 in tuition?

Posted by D. A. S. | September 19, 2007 2:02 PM
14

DAS- This is an institution where rich people can drop off their problem children because it's illegal to just shoot 'em and bury 'em in the woods. Poor people's problem children just fuck up their parents lives til they're old enough to go kill somebody and end up in prison. Assuming the parents are lucky.
One thing that never gets mentioned in these types of stories is that fucked-up kids can kill you, by stress or by weapons, or by just bashing your head in with retardo-strength during a fit. Don't just shut the place down- suggest, legislate, and fund a better alternative. Because replacing it with nothing is fucks up a lot more lives than leaving it in place.
-

Posted by christopher | September 19, 2007 2:29 PM
15

I'm of two minds- One, it does seem a bit over the top, but the other point of view is that most of us grew up getting spanked/swatted for inappropriate behavior, and is this really any different? Except you never know who actually punished you, and it can happen even when you think no one is around.

That said, the "tied to a board" thing is just fucked up.

Posted by Rev. George | September 19, 2007 3:15 PM
16

Yes it is different! I had the crap beat out of me many times but my Dad never resorted to electric shock applied by people I could not see. Yes, that's a deeper level of sadism and cruelty. Neither is good obviously but one is much worse.

Posted by call me a snot | September 19, 2007 3:22 PM
17

The thing that disturbs me the most is the control this old man Matt Israel needs...I think HE'S the one with the disorder! coo coo

Posted by coo coo for cocopuffs | September 19, 2007 4:21 PM
18

Punishing children with violence only teaches them that violence is an acceptable behavior.

Posted by booji boy | September 19, 2007 5:31 PM
19

"Behaviorism would seem to dictate that staff shock students immediately after they break the rules. But if employees learn about a misbehavior after it has occurred—by, say, reviewing surveillance footage—they may still administer punishment. Rob Santana recalls that Mondays were always the most stressful day of the week. He would sit at his desk all day, trying to remember if he had broken any rules over the weekend, waiting to see if he'd be shocked."

oh.my.god. any decent dog trainer can tell you this is NOT the way to use aversion/pain therapy. the "correction" must be immediate or not at all. this guy isreal is no scientist--he's just a sadistic asshole posing as one.

Posted by ellarosa | September 19, 2007 7:51 PM
20

The $220,000 per student fee is paid for by state and other public funding. In other words, this is being sponsored by you and me, and any kid could end up there, not just the rich ones. We are paying for it, just like we paid for Abu Ghraib. Have a nice day.

Posted by tina | September 20, 2007 6:54 AM
21

Ms. Gonnerman’s article “School of Shock,” which appears in the September/October issue of the Mother Jones magazine, is an entirely one-sided and biased account of the court- and parent-approved behavior modification therapy used at the Judge Rotenberg Center to successfully treat, without drugs, severe (sometimes life-threatening) behavior problems of children and young adults with special needs that have not responded to any other form of treatment. For readers who would like to hear the other side of this story, please see http://www.judgerc.org/ResponsetoGonnermanArticle.pdf

Posted by Matthew L. Israel | October 2, 2007 8:12 AM

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