Restraint and Seclusion Experiences of Youth

In response to a previous post about our restraint and seclusion reduction initiative, one reader wanted to learn more about youth reaction to the experience of restraint. We asked several of our kids of all ages to fill in the end of open sentences about both being restrained and seeing others be restrained. We then recorded oth kids reading these aloud, and played them at our kickoff event for our “Got Restraint? More healing, less holding” initiative.
Answers from children to open ended sentences about their experiences of restraint and seclusion

When I get restrained, I feel scared.
When I am in a seclusion, I feel trapped.
When I get restrained, it reminds me of when they had to hold my uncle back.
When I am in a seclusion, it reminds me of watching my mom get in the police car.
When I get restrained, staff try to help.
When I am in a seclusion, staff ignore.
After a restraint I feel guilty.
After a seclusion I feel guilty.
When other kids get restrained I feel like I need to be in a restraint too.

When I get restrained, I feel even more angry than I did before.
When I get secluded, I feel really upset, mad, and angry.
When I get restrained, it reminds me of home, because I used to get into a lot of trouble at home and my mom would restrain me.
When I get secluded, it reminds me of my mother.
When I get restrained, staff get really mad and hurt you, a little bit, but not purposely.
When I get secluded, staff open the door quickly, most of the time, when I’m calm.
After I get restrained I feel scared, angry, and hot. I get scared it’s going to happen again, sad that it happened, and angry that it happened.
After I get secluded I feel even more angry.
When I see other kids get restrained it scares me.

When I get restrained, I feel scared because everything’s going so fast, and my emotions are a roller coaster, and hurt and frustrated. I feel angry because I start to hate the staff because they put their hands on me and they put me down and I don’t like to be touched. Sometimes I’ll purposely hit them so they’ll restrain me. Sometimes I’ll be like “why didn’t you guys just talk to me instead of going straight down.”

When I get secluded, I feel angry, I feel like hurting myself because I’m only by myself and there’s nothing for me to use to cope and there’s just walls. The quiet room would freak me out cause it was all scabbed up and had writing on it.

When I get restrained, it reminds me of the past, people hurting me.
When I get secluded, it reminds me of when I get grounded.
When I get restrained, staff can get hurt, and it depends on who’s in it, but sometimes staff hold onto me real tight or get frustrated with me.
When I get secluded, staff have to do paperwork.
After I get restrained I feel angry because I don’t like when people touch me.
After I get secluded I’m stressed still.
When I see other kids get restrained I feel no one should have to go through that.

When I get restrained I feel angry, like I’m going to pay them back, cause I hate when people put their hands on me. I don’t like to be a loser-it’s like getting beat up.
When I get secluded, I feel like I will I throw up.
When I get restrained, it reminds me of my past.
When I get restrained, it makes me angry.
When I get secluded, staff shut the door.
After I get restrained, I think F all you people, are you listening to me?
When I see other kids get restrained It makes me very upset and sad.

When I get restrained I feel like I can’t breathe.
When I get secluded, I feel like the walls are closing in on me.
When I get restrained, it reminds me of when I was hit as a little girl.
When I get restrained, staff grab me too hard. They should hold us down and talk, or just talk.
After I get restrained I feel I’m even more angry, and I still have trouble breathing.
When I see other kids get restrained I think staff do it right, sometimes kids hit them and they have to get aggressive back.

Good reasons to work hard and reducing or eliminating these practices.