Lesson: Treating a child like an animal will not fly.
The principal of a public school in Canberra has lost her job after instigating the building of a cage in a classroom to contain a boy with special needs.
The two-by-two-metre cage – made of pool fencing and featuring a self-closing latch and door – was purpose-built for a 10-year-old boy with autism.
An inquiry found the student, who was believed to be physically abusive towards his teacher and other students, was put in the cage by staff on one occasion to calm him down, Fairfax Media reports.
It found that the $5195 required to build the cage came out of the school’s coffers without consultation or approval by the ACT Education Directorate.
Related: Autism experts condemn ACT school’s “classroom cage”.
The principal has lost her job and public servants within the directorate could face sanctions after investigation revealed they did not act with “sufficient urgency or alarm” after being alerted to the cage by a member of the school community on March 7.
Fairfax Media reports it took another nine days for the concern to be escalated to a senior executive.
The cage was removed the following day, March 27.
Government schools across the state were audited and no similar ‘withdrawal spaces’ were found.
ACT Education Minister Joy Burch said she “remained disappointed and disturbed” over how the cage had ever come to be constructed in a school classroom – a discovery that made headlines around the country.
“We sold Canberra families short on this one and it will never happen again,” Ms Burch said.
Watch the press conference here:
Top Comments
A personal anecdote; I taught in a low ses primary school for several years, where there was a high concentration of both disadvantage and disability (austism, adhd, learning disability as well as severe emotional/behavioural problems). Sadly, only a small percentage of these children qualify for funding or a teaching aide. Every year, I would watch the number of kids with autism/severe learning disabilities/ behavioural problems rise in my class, from 2 out of 25, to 3 out of 22 and then 6 out of 20 by the time I left. That is almost 1/3 of my class. The reason for this is because as the years went by, prospective local parents would not want to send their kids to the school because of the high number of disadvantaged/disability children (they felt it was disruptive or dangerous for their children) and would instead opt for the local catholic primary schools. This had the flow on effect of decreasing enrolment numbers at the school and reducing the number of classes at each year level, which of course meant the same number of disadvantaged/autistic/learning disability children had to be spread across less classes, meaning a higher number per class. At one point the kids in my class had to train and practise a procedure where children quietly and quickly went to the room next door if one of the autistic boys became so agitated he would start throwing chairs. I met and planned with his parents and his dr and did my own research and we tried so many solutions (quiet corner, 'red box' of his favourite things, a picture of a bucket where he could draw his feelings and then discuss them when he calmed down) sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. At the same time I had a child in my class who always grabbed the other students genitalia. At the same time I had a child who had an IQ of 71, so just missed out on funding and an aide who would cry when he was given any work because it was overwhelming, despite the work being targeted to his ability (he had anxiety I think). At this same time I had several children for whom I had to often make DOCS reports, and others who I often made lunches for and even bought shoes because they would come to school literally with toes bleeding from holey shoes.
So to the poster below who keeps insinuating that teachers should just 'deal with it' because 'thats the job they get paid for', I suggest you actually spend some time in a mainstream school with a high concentration of disability. It may work in theory, but in practise, the way it is at the moment, very often it is failing both the children with learning disabilities and the other children.
I just wanted to say that your students are lucky to have a teacher who cared for them so much. Teaching is a tough job, I know I sure couldn't do it, but the world is a better place because of teachers like you.
Its so common. At my kids primary school, my son had a drill where they had to hide under their desks when chairs started being thrown.
It doesnt just happen in low SES areas either, this a high SES area.
I'm a teacher, and in one of my classes, I have a student with a genetic disorder. A part of this disorder means that her intellectual and emotional development are limited to that of a nine year old. It's not an ignorant opinion, but a clinical and scientific assesment of the disorder. I have her in a class (whom I only see for 100 minutes a week) with 26 other 14-15 year olds, all with varying abilities and other (less severe) learning issues. There is NO way on earth that I can provide her with the support that she requires to understand the course content and achieve the learning outcomes. It's not because I don't want to, but because her needs are so complex and time-intensive. She desperately needs to be in a school for students to have special needs. Not because we don't want her (or because I don't want her/care for her), but because we simply cannot provide the amount of support that she requires to maximise her potential. Her parents *refuse* to send her to a special school. So, instead, she spends her time unable to understand the work being set and unable to complete simple tasks she's given. It is a complete and utter waste of her time, and I really feel sorry for her. I know if she was in a special school, she'd be able to refine her reading and writing, would learn social skills and be linked into services that would help her find a suitable job after finishing school. Special Ed and schools are not about exclusion; they're about providing an education that gives kids every opportunity to reach their potential (whatever it may be).