Shechemite
Justice for Harvey
Charity warns treatment of society’s most vulnerable youngsters is national scandal
Hundreds of disabled and non-verbal children have been sent home with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises on their faces, arms and legs to broken teeth in the last year in what one charity is calling a national child abuse scandal.
Children as young as two years old have lost teeth after being physically restrained and held down by adults for “playing aggressively with a toy car”.
Evidence from a nationwide survey reveals severely disabled, tube-fed children in wheelchairs being locked in “empty cupboards” for “crying when their dummy was taken” or “punished for being ridiculous”.
Experts warn the lack of training and understanding in nurseries and special schools has created what they describe as a “dangerous punitive mindset which sees distress as defiance, and control as care”.
Beth Morrison, who runs the charity Positive & Active Behaviour Support Scotland (PABSS), says new evidence heightens the need for statutory guidance, mandatory training and reporting of issues such as those called for in Calum’s Law, which is still at the Bill stage in the Scottish Parliament.
She said: “Our evidence-based survey of hundreds of incidents proves compulsory reporting and a duty of candour to report all incidents of restraint, seclusion and injury to parents is now a necessity.
“I’ve found it impossible not to weep uncontrollably at the sheer callousness of those who are supposed to teach and nurture our most vulnerable children.
“We are talking about extremely disabled, often non-verbal children either with learning difficulties or severe autism, being physically restrained, held down by adults, strapped down into harnesses or secluded in an empty ‘cupboard’ for issues like crying because their dummy has been taken away… our evidence proves the physical punishment of disabled children is still happening in every corner of Scotland in what can only be described as a national child abuse scandal.”
“Many were never told. Some were dismissed. Many parents and carers were threatened when they tried to speak out or even when they posted Facebook messages sharing their experiences.”
Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner, Nicola Killean, has repeatedly challenged the government over its lack of action on the scandal. Her No Safe Place report revealed widespread inconsistencies over the use of restraint and seclusion across Scotland and the failure to record incidents – and warned the Scottish Government was at risk of breaching its obligations under the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The UNCRC issued a directive two years ago demanding the abolition of isolation rooms and the introduction of statutory guidance.
But the Included, Engaged And Involved guidance issued by the Scottish Government in November last year was unenforceable, and their Fostering A Positive, Inclusive And Safe School Environment scheme was non-binding and failed to provide resources and staffing support.
Last month the Care Inspectorate raised significant concerns over the quality of care at Cardenden Primary School Nursery in Lochgelly, Fife, where staff were explicitly told to cease the use of inappropriate physical intervention on young children or their registration could be revoked.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Education Minister Miles Briggs said: “There’s no other way to describe this than a national child abuse scandal.”
Hundreds of disabled and non-verbal children have been sent home with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises on their faces, arms and legs to broken teeth in the last year in what one charity is calling a national child abuse scandal.
Children as young as two years old have lost teeth after being physically restrained and held down by adults for “playing aggressively with a toy car”.
Evidence from a nationwide survey reveals severely disabled, tube-fed children in wheelchairs being locked in “empty cupboards” for “crying when their dummy was taken” or “punished for being ridiculous”.
Experts warn the lack of training and understanding in nurseries and special schools has created what they describe as a “dangerous punitive mindset which sees distress as defiance, and control as care”.
Beth Morrison, who runs the charity Positive & Active Behaviour Support Scotland (PABSS), says new evidence heightens the need for statutory guidance, mandatory training and reporting of issues such as those called for in Calum’s Law, which is still at the Bill stage in the Scottish Parliament.
She said: “Our evidence-based survey of hundreds of incidents proves compulsory reporting and a duty of candour to report all incidents of restraint, seclusion and injury to parents is now a necessity.
“I’ve found it impossible not to weep uncontrollably at the sheer callousness of those who are supposed to teach and nurture our most vulnerable children.
“We are talking about extremely disabled, often non-verbal children either with learning difficulties or severe autism, being physically restrained, held down by adults, strapped down into harnesses or secluded in an empty ‘cupboard’ for issues like crying because their dummy has been taken away… our evidence proves the physical punishment of disabled children is still happening in every corner of Scotland in what can only be described as a national child abuse scandal.”
“Many were never told. Some were dismissed. Many parents and carers were threatened when they tried to speak out or even when they posted Facebook messages sharing their experiences.”
Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner, Nicola Killean, has repeatedly challenged the government over its lack of action on the scandal. Her No Safe Place report revealed widespread inconsistencies over the use of restraint and seclusion across Scotland and the failure to record incidents – and warned the Scottish Government was at risk of breaching its obligations under the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The UNCRC issued a directive two years ago demanding the abolition of isolation rooms and the introduction of statutory guidance.
But the Included, Engaged And Involved guidance issued by the Scottish Government in November last year was unenforceable, and their Fostering A Positive, Inclusive And Safe School Environment scheme was non-binding and failed to provide resources and staffing support.
Last month the Care Inspectorate raised significant concerns over the quality of care at Cardenden Primary School Nursery in Lochgelly, Fife, where staff were explicitly told to cease the use of inappropriate physical intervention on young children or their registration could be revoked.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Education Minister Miles Briggs said: “There’s no other way to describe this than a national child abuse scandal.”
