In 2002, a
special needs student named Andre McCollins was allegedly strapped down
and electrocuted for hours, leaving him with permanent brain damage, all because he refused to take off his jacket. The people torturing Andre were officials at his school. You can watch what happened on video.
The video was
shot at a Massachusetts school for special needs kids called the Judge
Rotenberg Center (JRC). Gregory Miller used to be a teacher there, and
he says electrocuting kids as punishment is extremely common -- even for
minor offenses like raising your hand to go to the bathroom.
"A
non-verbal, nearly blind girl with cerebral palsy was shocked for
attempts to hold a staff member's hand -- her attempts to communicate
and to be loved," Gregory says.
Gregory desperately wants to help the kids at the JRC --that's why he started a petition on Change.org demanding that the JRC stop using electroshock to punish kids. Click here to add your name.
Gregory says the JRC's founder created electroshock devices which are even stronger than police stun guns to
punish students for bad behavior. An official at the United Nations
said that using these devices on children is considered torture.
According to the Boston Globe,
the JRC’s founder resigned after being charged with misleading a grand
jury by destroying video footage of other students being shocked.
Gregory believes
that if thousands of people sign his petition, his former bosses will
capitulate in the intense pressure generated by a national spotlight.
Thanks for being a change-maker,
- Jon and the Change.org team
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