LETTER: School leaders should sit in seclusion room

Sept. 17, 2022  |  By Brian Dalla Mura

To the HUUSD leaders,

I ask that you visit the Brookside Primary School seclusion room. I challenge you to sit in the seclusion room with the door shut and reflect on how it makes you feel as a well-regulated adult. Would the seclusion room help you regain your emotional regulation if you were upset? Then, imagine how a child who is upset, scared, sad, or anxious would feel? You as a Harwood Unified Union School District board member or administrator are asking very young children to do something that we, as adults, would never do for ourselves as a way to cope with stress. In fact, I’m going to guess that sitting in the seclusion room will increase your stress level. Please take me up on this challenge and try out the seclusion room for yourself and share your experience with the community.

Brian Dalla Mura

Duxbury

Brian Dalla Mura is a former HUUSD School Board member and Brookside Primary School staff member.