A Bendigo disability advocate has welcomed a government department’s decision to disclose secret details about the number of children grabbed by the wrists, pushed to the ground or locked inside rooms.
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However, the Bendigo Autism Advocacy Support Service’s Susanna Flanagan said the controversial “restraint and seclusion” techniques used by teachers to control violent students should be banned until concerns about their overuse were resolved.
Last week the Department of Education and Training told Fairfax Media data was soon to be made public. The revised guidelines would be based on US Education Department policy and revealed the Victorian department would review who was being restrained, the types of restraints used, and why it was used.
A department spokeswoman told the Bendigo Advertiser in order to ensure schools were a safe place for all, staff sometimes needed to temporarily restrain or seclude students when they posed an immediate threat to other children, staff or themselves.
She said in the overwhelming majority of reported cases of seclusion a teacher temporarily closed a classroom door after evacuating classmates. Restraint reports typically involved a staff member restraining a child threatening another student.
The spokeswoman said statewide there had been 984 restraint and seclusion cases between October, 2015 and March, 2017.
Mrs Flanagan said the BASS was approached by a lot of people close to – or in – crisis following practices used in schools. She said the children were “struggling significantly … and their welfare has been incredibly affected by some practices these schools are using.”
“Last week we had someone contacting us with a child who was subjected to physical restraint and some other serious violations of their human rights,” she said.
Mrs Flanagan said some parents were not initially aware of incidents and she was concerned that sometimes reports might not have been made to the department.
“We (the BAAS) need to support families in finding the right balance in these schools,” she said, noting that could mean making sure teachers were fully aware of information and support.
“Sometimes it is also about what schools are willing to do, regardless of the information we provide them.”
Mrs Flanagan said in many cases restraint or seclusion did not address the underlying causes or behavior that triggered an event.
- With The Age
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
