Scream room: child abuse or good idea?

Middletown, Conn. (WTNH) - Instead of going to the principal's office, unruly students are being sent to what parents are calling a screaming room.

The learning process never stops as some parents at Middletown's Farm Hill Elementary are discovering.

"I didn't know it existed. I think it's terrible," said Jean Connely. "I think the parents need to ban together and something that should be gotten rid of."

Connely is referring to what fellow parents are calling the scream room, but  school officials call it the time out room, a place for students with behavioral problems to calm down. However some parents aren't calm about the technique, just angry. Connely's second-grade son Nicholas saw the policy practiced.

"I just saw the kid looking through the window, and kicking the door, and a girl in front of it," she said.

"If we did this in our own homes, DCF would be knocking on our door and taking our children - but the schools are doing it? That's not right," said Connely.

Superintendent of schools Dr. Michael Frechette says he has come up with an action plan on how to handle behavioral issues at Farm Hill Elementary.

Some of the plan includes:

• Making the part-time psychologist full-time.
• Bringing in a behavioral technician to work directly with children to address behavioral needs
• Widening the support of the Family Resource Center for students and families through fifth grade.

Parents applaud new ideas, as long as the old one goes.

"It doesn't seem like a good idea to me," said parent Jackie Souza. "I don't know if the kids are being looked after."

Officials say a child's safety is paramount, but Connely remains worried.

"I heard through the grapevine they had to clean blood and urine after the fact that one particular child was in there for quite some time," she said.