school boy locked in cage

[sarah]

http://news.com.au/common/story_pag...55E2761,00.html

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THE repeated locking up of an intellectually disabled boy in a "cage" at his school has sparked an investigation by the West Australian Education Department.

However, the department yesterday refused to apologise to 12-year-old Neil Simons or his family.

Strongly objecting to the fenced area being called a "cage", department assistant director of student services John Brigg also refused to stand down staff at the school while the case is investigated or rule out the use of similar facilities.

The cage Neil was locked in – an area of grass the size of a small room surrounded by a 3.5m-high wire fence backing on to a demountable building – contained a wooden bench, but no access to a toilet or water.

Education department documents show that he was locked in the enclosure from October 10, 2002, to the end of the school term – almost every day for up to 80 minutes. He was also detained in the enclosure during 2003.

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I read this story from work yesterday and saw it updated on our news last night and was completely horrified that any state school education board would consider this normal practice. I have friends with autistic children and would never want their or any other children to have to go through this.

your thoughts?

[Demona]

Link didn't work for me.

Without that I have no idea what sort of mental difficulties he has. If it makes him very violent and dangerous to other pupils then there may be a case for it.

[edit] Okay, hadn't read your comment on the story. Is he autistic then?

[RogueAngel]

Well, it definitely sounds harsh and cruel. It is sort of hard to tell, the link does not work for me either. I would be curious to know their reasoning for this.

[kingclick]

The article.

THE West Australian Education Department is to investigate the case of a 12-year-old boy who was repeatedly locked in a cage at a Perth school, as experts yesterday denounced the practice as "child abuse".


Neil Simons with his grandmother Sheila.


The behavioural expert who advised the school distanced yesterday himself from the incident, saying he played no role in the design, construction or operation of the enclosure.

As revealed in The Australian yesterday, Perth woman Sheila Simons has waged an ongoing battle with the department since discovering her intellectually disabled grandson, Neil, had been locked in the enclosure at Kenwick School.

The department recently agreed to remove the enclosure but has refused Ms Simons' requests to stand down the teachers involved and provide an assurance outdoor enclosures will not be used again.

State Education Minister Alan Carpenter said he had asked the department director general Paul Albert to undertake a "complete investigation into all aspects of the issue".

Assistant director of student services John Brigg said he was not aware of any outdoor facilities of that type being used at other WA government schools but could not rule out that possibility.

"These things don't necessarily come to my attention," he said. "They are managed by districts and schools."

It was too early to say whether the department would agree to ban the practice in future.

Ms Simons said that response was simply not good enough. "They've set a precedent. Now they can put any child with a disability or behavioural problems in a cage.

"This can't be allowed to happen. You can't do this to kids."

Mr Brigg said the department had sought advice from Murdoch University behavioural expert David Leach before creating the enclosure for Neil, and that it had succeeded in reducing his bad behaviour.

Associate Professor Leach confirmed he had suggested the school devise a safe, time-out area after meeting teachers and observing Neil on several occasions.

However, he stressed he had not designed the enclosure and had in fact never seen it.

"I would not recommend harsh or unusual practices," he said. "If I had been asked to go back and look at it, it may have been different."

Professor Leach said the principal and teacher were highly professional, and had "really wanted to do their very best".

Dr David Wood from national child abuse prevention foundation Kids First said the use of the outdoor enclosure was totally unacceptable.

"I think that it's child abuse, full stop," he said.

"If a parent was to do that, they would be charged with deprivation of liberty or something worse.

"It would not have improved his self-esteem in any way, shape or form, or improved the other students' perceptions of him."

Kaye Regan from advocacy group People with Disabilities said the enclosure was clearly inappropriate.

"I know that the time-out concept is used in schools, but I would have thought a school like this would have had some appropriate facilities," she said. "This cage seems appalling for a 12-year-old.

"Surely there must be better ways of dealing with behavioural difficulties."

[RogueAngel]

Thanks kinglozer !!

Hmmm well, if it was 'time out' based and suppose to be 'safe', I *might* be able to get my mind around the enclosure itself. No, ok, nevermind I can't, I gave it a shot though ;) ... I really can't see how anyone would think this is not cruel. Unless there was a violence issue ... even that is pushing it.

[mom2burgess]

When I as in high school, I worked with mentally handicapped children. There are various things that Would seem disturbing I think. For one boy, he was roughly 290 pounds, 6 feet tall, and had the mentality of a 2 year old if not younger. He could not stand on his own, and sometimes he could be violent. They had this contraption, that looked like a podium with out a top, except for a large tray sitting off the side. He would stand in that, and I would think for someone walking in the class, they would probably be disturbed about it. There was also a fenced area (it was inside) where one girl would spend alot of time, because she could be very violent. It probably disturbed some people, but the fenced in area,had no hard objects in it for her own safety as well as others. I understand using it for safety reasons, although, i would hope there was a teacher around that boys area who would be able to give him water adn take him to the bathroom

[Minnie_Beebe]

Perth? I don't doubt it. I just got back from spending three months there. It's the equivalent to our Southern States. A tad backwards.