I need to pick your brains about a situation witnessed by visiting parents (trustworthy) at DS1's school.
A boy with SLD/EBD was shut in a very small room,(described by parents as more like a large cupboard) for over an hour as a time out strategy. The room was bare and the window too high to see out of. A member of staff stood outside but they left him in there because he did not calm down for the required 3 minutes. The boy had turned the light out himself so it was quite dark for some of the time.
He was still kicking and screaming in the room when the parents left, with the threat that he would miss the next class - swimming - as he hadn't calmed down.
I feel quite alarmed at this reported incident as it seems too long to shut a child with very limited cognitive ability in a room. The room sounds too small, claustrophobic and frightening, whatever his behavioural issues. There is a large soft play room that I thought would have been a less scary place to put him. Also, missing a refreshing, relaxing sports activity as a punishment sounds counter-productive to me.
Does anyone know whether there are guidelines/rules on the use of seclusion for children and whether this sort of thing is common practice?
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8-yr-old with SLD - over an hour in a Time Out Room/Cupboard
23 replies
donkeyderby · 13/09/2009 16:42
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