In December 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the US Department of Education released a significant policy statement on the subject of restraint and seclusion at school. The OCR is the division of the Department of Education that protects the civil rights of students. Students who have disabilities and who attend schools that receive public funding are protected from discrimination according to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Parents may not realize that children with special needs who attend public schools have civil rights. Those rights have implications for the subject of restraint and seclusion by…