Pupil referral unit
‘He's smashed up the classroom’
How I got help for my disruptive son
By Adam Eley & Andy Smythe
of the Victoria Derbyshire programme
Cruz isn't like his three siblings.
He's rebellious, violent and struggles to make friends.
His mum Shelley's discipline isn't working.
Cruz is at risk of being excluded from school.
Shelley is at her wits' end, but believes he can change.
Can he get the help he needs?
The phone rings. Shelley knows who it is before she answers it.
Embarrassed, she leaves her desk and walks into the kitchen so that none of her colleagues can hear.
“You need to come and get him. We can't control him, you have to come now,” says an all-too-familiar voice.
It's March 2017 and Shelley's eight-year-old son Cruz has been playing up at school - again.
He's only in Year 3 but his behaviour has been a problem for years. .....
...... “I'm going to be an inventor,” says Cruz as he envisions his life as a grown-up.
“I'm going to make stairs so that when you fall down them you won't get hurt.”
I would love to tell both Cruz and his mum Shelley that they both are amazing people. Cruz, I wish your dream comes true and that you continue to believe in yourself, you are one awesome little boy.
I would love to see more of this type of intervention available to children dealing with these issues. Sadly though the UK's social and welfare needs such as education and nhs funding is being cut to buggery to the detriment of our children's needs.