Thank you so much for this post. It is so timely. We have a meeting tomorrow morning with the school (and Local Authority attendance team) that imposed isolation on my highly anxious 11-year old. He hasn’t been able to attend school since (18 weeks). I will be taking this article with me.
I was shocked to hear that there are 7 reflection rooms, each approx 30 kids in each, every day at my children’s secondary academy. I would love to know if other schools have this many rooms?
These schools have caused untold anxiety for my daughter, the thought of isolation literally made her break down in tears, she said she couldn't stand to sit in that room again all day. It's so damaging and degrading, it's unbelievable. The whole school system needs an overhaul and fast
My son is in year eight at a secondary academy and I couldn’t agree more with your concerns. He has not had any punishments. At first he was worried by the prospect but they are so common he has come to accept that he probably will be punished at some point for a minor infringement. A year seven friend went to isolation for having the wrong shoes on a spot check of uniform. For any conflict that they know about, they are obsessed with witness statements and CCTV and sanctions. At home, we have talked about how unfairly punitive the policies are and tried to make light of the school’s bizarre policies to make them a bit less scary.
I don't think it is widely known among the public, but seclusion is common in the US for students in special education (so is restraint and corporal punishment). There is little understanding of the behavior of children with autism and other issues, so minor things are punished because they are perceived as "defiant." A family I work with has a 7-year-old with autism. The mother was looking at a school for her son. They had a Kindergarten and a Grades 1-3 special ed. class. When she went down the hall, the Kinders were outside the classroom in the hallway. They were using the classroom to lock a 2nd grader inside. I don't know why, but she said he was pounding on the door begging to be let out. They were hoping he would "calm down" so they could re-enter the room. No one was attempting to talk with him or responding to his cries. Of course, this is terrible for the 2nd grader, but I also wonder why they couldn't take the Kinders somewhere else? They must have been so scared witnessing that. As for the mom, I convinced her to homeschool. There are no good options here (California).
Thank you so much for this post. It is so timely. We have a meeting tomorrow morning with the school (and Local Authority attendance team) that imposed isolation on my highly anxious 11-year old. He hasn’t been able to attend school since (18 weeks). I will be taking this article with me.
I was shocked to hear that there are 7 reflection rooms, each approx 30 kids in each, every day at my children’s secondary academy. I would love to know if other schools have this many rooms?
These schools have caused untold anxiety for my daughter, the thought of isolation literally made her break down in tears, she said she couldn't stand to sit in that room again all day. It's so damaging and degrading, it's unbelievable. The whole school system needs an overhaul and fast
My son is in year eight at a secondary academy and I couldn’t agree more with your concerns. He has not had any punishments. At first he was worried by the prospect but they are so common he has come to accept that he probably will be punished at some point for a minor infringement. A year seven friend went to isolation for having the wrong shoes on a spot check of uniform. For any conflict that they know about, they are obsessed with witness statements and CCTV and sanctions. At home, we have talked about how unfairly punitive the policies are and tried to make light of the school’s bizarre policies to make them a bit less scary.
I don't think it is widely known among the public, but seclusion is common in the US for students in special education (so is restraint and corporal punishment). There is little understanding of the behavior of children with autism and other issues, so minor things are punished because they are perceived as "defiant." A family I work with has a 7-year-old with autism. The mother was looking at a school for her son. They had a Kindergarten and a Grades 1-3 special ed. class. When she went down the hall, the Kinders were outside the classroom in the hallway. They were using the classroom to lock a 2nd grader inside. I don't know why, but she said he was pounding on the door begging to be let out. They were hoping he would "calm down" so they could re-enter the room. No one was attempting to talk with him or responding to his cries. Of course, this is terrible for the 2nd grader, but I also wonder why they couldn't take the Kinders somewhere else? They must have been so scared witnessing that. As for the mom, I convinced her to homeschool. There are no good options here (California).
They had that when I was in school, but I’ve worked in public education in the US for the last 15 years and have not seen that specific tactic here.
I’ve seen some other interesting punishments, especially when I lived in the south for a short time.
Awful. Just awful. So lucky I was in a position to home educate my boys!