N.Y. debates Mass. school's shock use

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York education regulators yesterday debated but did not vote on tight limits on corporal punishment of students, rules that would have significant impact on a Massachusetts school that uses mild electric shocks to discipline students with autism, mental retardation, or emotional problems.

The deputy education commissioner, Rebecca Cort, and other state officials urged the New York Board of Regents to ban corporal punishments, including shocks, and withholding of food, unless a panel of psychologists determines that a child would benefit.

But board members seemed torn between that call to protect children's rights and assertions by parents of children placed at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center in Canton, Mass., that for some of the students, the threat and infliction of pain may be the best teacher.

``This is a challenging area and we are trying to sort out some tough questions," said James R. Tallon Jr., one of the regents. The board scheduled a vote on the proposed rules in June.

Nearly 150 of the 251 students at the Rotenberg Center are sent from New York, and 70 to 80 wear electrodes on their skin so that teachers can administer shocks for misbehavior ranging from aggression to refusing to cooperate. Overall, about 125 students at the school are subject to shocks.

Already, the center must obtain permission from parents as well as a judge before beginning the ``aversive therapy," as the shocks are known, but New York education officials said that the number of children receiving the treatment has risen rapidly, and that parents often lack expertise in giving their consent.

James Delorenzo, the assistant commissioner of vocational and educational services for individuals with disabilities, said the Rotenberg Center increasingly applies shocks to students of normal intelligence rather than only students with severe mental disabilities. The mentally disabled were the main recipients of the shocks until the past few years and who can be difficult to treat with more conventional methods of school discipline.

Delorenzo said the shocks -- which some students compare to a bee sting -- can be applied to children for minor offenses such as ``failure to maintain a neat appearance" and whispering. Moreover, he said the school seems to pay limited attention to side effects of the treatment, such as depression and anxiety.

At least 30 parents of students at the Rotenberg Center came to the regents' meeting to show their opposition to new rules, but the board did not allow public comment.

In interviews, parents said that aversive therapy is highly effective -- and preferable to watching their children injure themselves or others.

Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com.