Opposing Digits

(CBS) MELVILLE “This has saved all our children's lives”, said a shaken Dorothy Mirro in Melville today.

She was among twenty emotional parents supporting controversial shock-therapy treatment.

“The school is a god-send. My wife and I suffer. You don't know what it's like to have a violent son who could kill you--but who you dearly love.”

The school that Jenkin Washington speaks of, The Rotenberg Center, is in Massachusetts but approved by New York State as a facility for extremely troubled youths. It uses modern-day electric shock therapy by way of back packs, belts--sometimes strapped to arms and legs. The shocks can last two to three seconds and are usually administered several times a week.

Ralph Antonelli of the Rotenberg Center was with the supportive parents explaining. He explaioned: ”We use supportive behavior modification fifty percent of the time. But it doesn't aleways work with the most severe cases. This is a last resort. We hate schizophrenic drugs. A judge must pre-approve each individual case”

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:16 PM