A disability campaigner is protesting about the handling of reforms on the use of restraint and chill-out rooms in schools.
Beth Morrison, from Angus, is fighting for the introduction of national guidance for Scotland on the issue. The guidance would clarify how schools are able to use physical restraint and seclusion.
But she fears that ministers are shutting out special needs champions in drafting the reforms.
And she warns that teachers and councils will use consultations with the Scottish Government over the guidance to minimise change.
Instead, she wants the Scottish Government to turn to experts in learning disability, physical intervention and children’s rights.
Beth Morrison: warning that using the ‘wrong’ experts will water down the guidance
Petition for national guidance
Morrison, 51, started a petition for the national guidance in 2015. Click here to see the petition.
It states: “No national guidance on the use of seclusion and restraint for children in local authority day school exists in Scotland.”
The petition adds: “Parents in a number of areas report that serious problems can occur in local authority schools that operate without such national guidance.”
Abuse of children
Morrison and other parents alleged that their children suffered abuse at Kingspark School, Dundee. It was after this that she started the petition.
She has previously given evidence before the Scottish Parliament’s Petitions Committee and appeared before it again on 19 January.
She told the Committee: “Guidance has been sought from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, and the Education Institute of Scotland, for example.
“Whilst I recognise fully their right to be consulted, I cannot accept that anyone from these organisations will have been able to provide a practical solution.”
Reforms ‘should include outright ban’
When she started her campaign, Morrison wanted a tough regulatory regime for chill-out rooms. Now, however, she favours an outright ban.
Her stance hardened after the United Nations recommended abolishing the rooms. The UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child published this advice in June 2016.
Morrison also told the committee that she opposes moves by the Scottish Government to replace the word ‘seclusion’ with ‘supported separation’ in the draft guidance.
She said the authorities should abolish isolation rooms in schools, rather than allow them to continue by calling them something different. She insists that by simply altering language, the reforms would not change school culture.
‘Committed to improving guidance’
A Scottish Government spokesperson said it remained committed to improving guidance. The spokesperson said it would update its 2011 document, Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: a positive approach to preventing and managing school exclusions.
The updated document is due to be published in the coming months.
Campaigners have created a video to highlight children’s experiences of restraint:
‘Why do they hurt?’ from The CBF on Vimeo.
Published: 20 January 2017
