New York City Schools Dumping Unruly Students In E-R for Psych drugs

As reported on 1010 Wins and on TV Station News 12 This writeup combines data from both reports.

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New York City Hospitals say they're being flooded with public school students who have committed only minor infractions - but are being labeled as needing psychiatric attention. That means they are brought to a local emergency room. Hospital officials say schools are overreacting to even the slightest mishaps. At one hospital, North Central Bronx, officials say they've received 42 students a month since the beginning of the school year. Officials at North Central Bronx and New York-Presbyterian hospitals tell the Daily News that at least a third of the students who visit E-Rs do not need treatment.

The city Education Department counters that school principals were often forced to make decisions about how to handle unruly students in "extreme" circumstances. In most cases, the department says, parents were involved in treatment decisions. Education Department policy dictates that students labeled a "clear threat" to school safety must receive immediate psychiatric attention.

Cadean Coward, 12, is currently receiving psychiatric care at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. And Cadean's mother is not responsible for her son being there. School officials at C.S. 92 sent him to the hospital. Jean Coward says she never gave consent for her son to be checked in and medicated. She claims she was told by officials that her son was violent. She does not believe her son has emotional troubles and says there needs to be more supervision at the school.

According to Dr. Andrew Bell, director of the Child and Adolescent Crisis Intervention Center, what happened to Coward's son is a growing trend. He estimates that around 30 students are admitted to emergency rooms each month.

But in a statement released by the Department of Education, a spokesperson only cites two cases of public school students being sent to the hospital. The spokesperson says, "In extreme cases the procedure is to attempt to calm the student, call school safety, the child's parent and EMS. No decisions are made without parental consent." Still, Coward maintains that was not the case with her son.