As advocates for children and youth with exceptionalities, the members of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) are committed to ensuring a safe and positive climate in school and community settings. This requires elimination of any inherent biases school leaders, teachers, and other school personnel may hold and investing in policies and practices that build community, such as developing comprehensive safety plans that emphasize proactive approaches to reducing unwanted behavior and providing access to a full continuum of positive behavioral interventions and supports for all children and youth. CEC maintains that it should be the goal of all educators and policy makers to eliminate the use of restraints and seclusion and to develop and implement positive educational strategies that respect the dignity and safety of children and youth with exceptionalities. The CEC believes that restraint and seclusion should only be used as a last resort and in extremely rare instances when a child's behavior poses an imminent threat of physical harm to him/herself or others. This position statement offers definitions for restraints and seclusion adopted from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the US Department of Education, as well as principles and practices related to the use of restraints and seclusion in all educational settings supported by the CEC.