Let me explain, they are time out rooms, usually the children put in there are physically violent. They are not left alone someone is outside the door watching them. These children bite, claw, kick, scream, hit, beat and spit (will bite inside their cheek just so they can spit blood) on you or on any one close, throw desks, pencils, books anything they can put their hands on. I had one turn over one of those portable room dividers on me.
You cannot physically restrain them. So do you leave them in the classroom where children have been hurt or do you remove them. Does the whole class leave the room and let the child destroy everything or are they removed?
Unless you have seen these children one has no idea. They beat their heads against the wall, they pee on the floor, they claw their face and arms and yours. I've even tried taking the shoes off but do you know how someone kicking you in the shins with their heel feels like? We had one teacher who swore a warrant for a violent older child who punched her in the eye and broke her glasses then beat and kicked her.
We who work or have worked in the schools can only do so much. Some of the children have never been disciplined ever. Their parents are afraid of them. They've never had structure. They come to school and do all of the above because they know if they misbehave long enough someone will give in. I worked in a School system that had satellite schools for districts within that system. Those satellite schools get them all. I was part of one.
Yes it is hard for the kids to listen to the screaming but as with any behavior once they understand that they can choose to do the right thing or have a consequence and that consequence is to be removed to a time out or calm down room and it is consistent you will see their behavior improve sometimes drastically. There are some ADD, ADHD and Autistic children that cannot stand a lot of stimuli. They actually ask to go to the quiet room.
Those special service classrooms have children in wheelchairs, many different syndrome children who are developmentally delayed,(often small in size) and other disabilities and because of lack of resources the behaviorally challenged and emotionally disturbed children are mixed right in. When you see a Down Syndrome child who is the sweetest thing in the world get kicked, hit with a book, spit on or bitten by another child having a major meltdown because they did not get their way and cannot handle making right choices it changes your perception quickly.
Trust me for just a many parents who are complaining about that "scream" room there are many who are thankful that it is there and their child doesn't have to share a class with that behavior disordered child.
The law pretty much ties our hands. That placement is the last at the end of a long list of other possiblities that all must be tried first. Positive reinforcement is used over and over again. We had good teachers but if you are in a regular classroom with 25 other students and there's one climbing on desks, running around causing major disruption 30 to 50 times and hour what happens to the other 25 students? The goal is to teach the child to make the appropriate choices so they can learn and not hurt others.
The regular layperson has no idea unless a story like this comes out, then it's what is wrong with that school etc. Trust me it's one of the few things that we are allowed to do that works.