The practice of secluding or restraining children when they get agitated has long been a controversial practice in public schools. Now, new data--analyzed by ProPublica and reported on by NPR--show that it's more common than we thought, happening at least 267,000 times in a recent school year.

In most cases, the practice is used with young people who have disabilities such as autism or emotional and behavioral challenges. Sometimes when students get upset, they get violent. To calm or control them, teachers and aides might isolate them in a separate room, or they might restrain them by holding them, pinning them to the ground, or even using mechanical restraints such as a belt or handcuffs.

Some parents and federal officials are seeking to limit the practice. But school administrators say they need to be able to seclude and restrain students in order to keep them, other students and school staff safe.

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